The Legal Defense Fund today called for the withdrawal of Education Secretary nominee Linda McMahon from consideration.
LDF President and Director-Counsel Janai Nelson issued the following statement:
“Linda McMahon’s views on education policy are extreme and pose a major threat to our public education system. The America First Policy Institute, which McMahon co-founded and for which she currently serves as Board Chair, advocates for cutting funds for public education—including Title I funding for schools serving low-income students—and weakening civil rights protections for vulnerable students. In addition, the Institute has vehemently opposed policies and programs that seek to address racial isolation, barriers to opportunities, and other unfair disadvantages experienced by students of color, including Black students, in higher education. These efforts are straight out of the Project 2025 playbook and would serve to make our schools less safe and more segregated at a time when more than 50% of public school children are students of color.
“Our students deserve a future in which everyone has access to high-quality education opportunities, from preschool through higher education, regardless of their race or zip code. Ms. McMahon’s nomination risks a drastically different future – one where quality public education is not universally available, inequalities deepen, and our most vulnerable students suffer. President-elect Trump should withdraw her nomination immediately and put forward a nominee who will strengthen our public education system and provide an opportunity for our country’s increasingly diverse population of students to thrive.”
To learn more about Project 2025’s threat to education, read LDF’s analysis here.
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Legal Defense Fund (LDF) – Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the
