Linda McMahon: Uncertain Future or Singular Opportunity?

If President Trump’s new education secretary, Linda McMahon, is unsure of her future in the administration, supporters believe it’s not necessarily a bad thing. A month into his second term, the president is doubling down on his campaign promise to close the U.S. Department of Education and send the responsibility for education back to the states.

A recent New York Post article quoted the president as wanting his pick for education secretary “to put herself out of a job.” The Post said Trump “is expected to give his education chief a deadline to deliver a plan for the agency’s winddown,” while acknowledging that Congressional action is required to complete the process.

Same Old Same Old: 2024 NAEP Scores Frighteningly Familiar

Some things never change, and one of these is the repetitively dismal National Association of Education Progress (NAEP) test results, which should emphasize for all Americans that something desperately needs to change in education. The 2024 NAEP reading scores for eighth graders show no significant improvement since 1992; scores overall are down five points since the pre-pandemic year of 2019 and two points lower compared to 2022. Reading assessment results were similar for fourth graders.

In math, eighth-grade scores remained essentially unchanged compared to 2022, but were down eight points from 2019. Fourth-grade scores improved by two points compared to 2022, but were down three points from 2019.

Trump EOs Rout Racist Education, Promote School Choice

President Donald Trump’s issuance of a flurry of executive orders during the first few weeks of his second term addressed education in a big way. One of these EOs strikes down radical woke indoctrination in America’s school system, including anti-Americanism, racial propaganda, and gender ideology.

Among the many pro-family groups cheering Trump’s actions, Libs of TikTok enthused: “For far too long, woke activists have been allowed to infect our school systems.... Trump aims to dismantle anti-American propaganda being fed to your children and to provide them with a rigorous education.”

Yes Virginia, the Bible Can be Taught During the Public-School Day

The decades-old battle over prayer and the teaching of Scripture in public schools can be won through programs like Ohio-based LifeWise Academy, a thriving Bible study curriculum that is integrated into the weekly class schedules of tens of thousands of American children. According to the organization’s website, the program makes use of “released time,” which is time set aside during school hours, typically an hour a day or a week, for students to receive off-campus private religious education.

The criteria for Lifewise and similar non-profit religious organizations to operate during public-school hours include that the instruction be given at a location outside the school, that the sponsoring organization and/or the students’ families must bear the cost, and that parental consent must be given. Lifewise easily meets these criteria, as does the Bible program offered by South Carolina-based School Ministries. While this organization has not seen the explosive growth of Lifewise, School Ministries added 33 school districts last year and has a goal of reaching 250,000 children by 2030.