With McMahon officially confirmed as the Secretary of Education, she will threaten Michigan students’ right to high-quality public education 

LANSING — With the Senate’s confirmation of billionaire Linda McMahon as the new Education Secretary, Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Curtis Hertel released the following statement: 

“On March 3rd, Donald Trump has officially brought in billionaire donor Linda McMahon to carry out his wildly unpopular agenda to abolish the Department of Education and decimate Michigan public schools, particularly in rural communities. Trump has already hurt Michigan students with his reckless federal funding freezes, and now, with McMahon, it is only going to get worse. 

“Plain and simple, Michiganders deserve better than an underqualified loyalist who lied about having an education degree. Make no mistake: Trump and McMahon are setting up our students for failure and screwing over hardworking Michigan families in the process.”

Take a look at just some of the pieces of Trump’s dangerous agenda that McMahon will help enact: 

• Donald Trump has instructed billionaire donor Linda McMahon to abolish the Department of Education. 
• Reporter: “Why nominate Linda McMahon to be the Education Department Secretary if you’re gonna get rid of the Education Department?”
• Trump: “Because I told Linda, ‘Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job.’ I want her to put herself out of a job, [the] Education Department … I want Linda to put herself out of a job.”

• Eliminating the Department of Education is deeply unpopular and would threaten programs that bolster K-12 schools and support working families, gut students’ civil rights protections, and end critical financial assistance for thousands of Michiganders
• LA Times: “The department has authority over financial lifelines that so many campuses and students rely on. The department’s K-12 programs serve more than 50 million students attending 130,000 public and private schools; federal grant, loan, and work-study assistance benefits more than 13 million post-secondary students.”

• Trump’s toxic cuts also disproportionately hit Trump voters the hardest. 
• CNN: “Potential federal education cuts could hit GOP’s base hardest” 
• “It’s the sort of place where President-elect Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ message resonated – but also where some of his proposed policies could hit hardest, especially his promise to eliminate the Department of Education and slash federal funds to public schools…