86 Civil Rights and Education Groups Demand Senators Oppose McMahon for Department of Education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mattie Goldman, [email protected]

Students deserve better than Trump agenda of discrimination, ignorance, and exclusion

WASHINGTON — The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, along with 85 national and local civil rights and education groups, wrote to members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee urging them to reject Linda McMahon’s nomination to serve as Secretary of Education. The letter — and her own testimony — make clear that McMahon is unprepared and unqualified to lead the civil rights agency, and her confirmation would be disastrous for students, their families, and educators. 

The letter states: “McMahon’s defense that she hopes to learn on the job what is required of a Secretary of Education would be a disqualifying answer in any environment. In this moment where the threats to education are so overwhelming, and so much damage has already been done in the first few weeks of this new administration, McMahon’s response is even more alarming.”     

“At no point in the history of the U.S. Department of Education has the question of leadership been more important. President Trump and unelected Musk have worked since January 20 to eviscerate equal opportunity in education. Not only do they seek to destroy the Department of Education by terminating the people who do the work, gutting the grants that Congress has authorized to ensure research is available for educators, weaponizing funding and the Office for Civil Rights in order to advance their agenda of bias and discrimination, and threatening the private data of student loan holders, Trump has also issued executive orders that take direct aim at the safety and wellbeing of children who are LGBTQI and/or immigrants; that seek to scare educators away from teaching students the truth and honestly preparing them for the future; and that seek to turn back the clock on diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

“While the immediate targets of this disaster machine may be vulnerable children and families, civil servants, and seasoned researchers, left unchecked by Congress and the courts, this plan would lead to shuttered classrooms, squandered potential, and a diminished future for our nation.”   

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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