Education
CTU Sounds Alarm for Chicago Students as Donald Trump’s Education Secretary Pick Set to be Confirmed
FILE - The U.S. Department of Education building is seen in Washington, Nov. 18, 2024. (Jose Luis Magana / AP Photo, File)
As Linda McMahon — a businesswoman who once helmed the WWE wrestling company alongside her husband — is set to be confirmed as President Donald Trump’s secretary of education, Chicago Teachers Union leaders expressed deep concerns for the future of learning under someone “who knows more about WrestleMania than the nature of schooling.”
CTU vice president Jackson Potter on Thursday said the union is “very concerned” about McMahon’s potential confirmation in Washington D.C. where she’s expected to carry out Trump’s orders to essentially dismantle the Department of Education.
Before those plans can come to fruition, Potter said Chicago and Illinois must take action to protect their most vulnerable students.
“We know Trump’s already signed executive orders that are likely illegal and unenforceable, but say teachers cannot teach the truth to students about history,” Potter said during a virtual news conference. “He signed orders that anyone who supports students with counseling, emotional assistance or resources to navigate their gender or sexuality could face prosecution.”
McMahon’s Senate confirmation hearing got underway Thursday morning.
A plan being considered by the White House would direct the education secretary to strip down the department as much as legally possible while asking Congress to abolish it completely. At her confirmation hearing Thursday, McMahon indicated she would seek “a better functioning Department of Education” with more efficient programs that might be better implemented by different federal agencies.
Potter warned such action would mean civil rights oversights and protections for undocumented and LGBTQ+ students would disappear. He called on Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Mayor Brandon Johnson and outgoing Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez to ensure those students’ safety.
Gabriel Paez, a bilingual middle school teacher in Chicago who chairs the CTU’s bilingual committee, called the nomination of McMahon — someone with essentially zero public education experience — “an insult to educators all across the country.”
“It’s just another example of how our profession is constantly being debased and disrespected,” he said. “She couldn’t be hired to do what I do for a single day, yet she’s now charged with leading this country’s schools and leading this country’s future.”
Eliminating the department altogether would be a cumbersome task; McMahon said she believed that would require action from Congress. Already, the department has cut $900 million in contracts for its office that tracks progress of students in schools across America.
The agency’s main role is financial. Annually, it distributes billions in federal money to colleges and schools and manages the federal student loan portfolio. Closing the department would mean redistributing each of those duties to another agency. The Education Department also plays an important regulatory role in services for students, ranging from those with disabilities to low-income and homeless kids.
Indeed, federal education money is central to Trump’s plans for colleges and schools. Trump has vowed to cut off federal money for schools and colleges that push “critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content” and to reward states and schools that end teacher tenure and support universal school choice programs.
McMahon, who has since separated from her husband — WWE founder Vince McMahon — remains a listed defendant in a lawsuit that accuses them both of turning a blind eye to the sexual abuse of minors within their company.
The CTU remains in protracted contract negotiations with Chicago Public Schools for a new labor contract after its previous deal expired last June. While there has been progress in those talks, Potter said union officials are “beyond frustrated” a new deal isn’t yet finished and wasn’t completed before Trump took office last month.
Union leaders have said a new deal is crucial to providing a protective “forcefield” for all vulnerable Chicago students and teachers.
“Every day we wait,” said Corey Lascano, a high school teacher and member of the CTU, “increases the likelihood our kids suffer at the hands of the Trump administration.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
