McMahon highlights Trump’s push to return education powers to states

US Education Secretary Linda McMahon recently highlighted the Trump administration’s efforts to shift education decision-making from Washington to state and local authorities, strengthen foundational learning and expand school choice for American families.

McMahon outlined the administration’s K-12 education priorities while addressing students at American Preparatory Academy in Salt Lake City, Utah, launching her four-part speaking series, The Next 250: American Education.

The series aims to showcase the administration’s achievements in school education, workforce development and higher education, while setting out its vision for the future of American education.

In her remarks, McMahon emphasised the importance of reading, mathematics and science, alongside a stronger understanding of American history and closer collaboration among parents, teachers and local communities.

She recalled an era when American schools were widely admired for their academic foundations and community engagement, arguing that parents should play an active role in their children’s education and that local communities should have a greater say in shaping learning.

“Children were truly known, not merely enrolled; parents were active partners in their children’s learning; and communities understood that educating the next generation was too important a responsibility to hand off to someone far away,” McMahon said.

A stronger role for states and local leaders

A central theme of McMahon’s address was the administration’s push to reduce federal involvement in education and give state and local leaders greater authority over decisions affecting students.

She said teachers, state education officials and local leaders were better placed to understand students’ day-to-day learning needs than distant federal administrators.

“As we right-size federal involvement in education, this Administration has fundamentally shifted decision-making in this country,” McMahon said, describing the move as an effort to return authority to those closest to classrooms and communities.

The administration has also highlighted investments in meaningful learning, evidence-based academic interventions and expanded education choice as key elements of its K-12 agenda.

Parents at the centre of education

McMahon also underscored the role of parents and families in shaping children’s futures, presenting schools as partners in a process that begins at home and extends into the wider community.

“In every decision we make, we are not asking what’s better for growing government power, ideological agendas, or bureaucrats’ careers. We are returning education to its most basic obligation: to nurture the God-given potential of our children,” she said.

Addressing students at American Preparatory Academy, McMahon said education should be rooted in the aspirations of parents and strengthened by teachers and communities.

“This school — and all of you here — remind us that education begins not in Washington, but in the hearts and homes of parents who shape their children’s futures, joined by teachers and communities who lift those dreams higher,” she said.

The opening address sets the tone for McMahon’s four-part series, which seeks to connect the administration’s current education priorities with its broader vision for the next 250 years of American education.