US Education Secretary Linda McMahon has said that President Donald Trump wants to eliminate excessive bureaucracy in the education system, in order to redirect funding from compliance costs to direct student and teacher support.In an interview shared on the @RapidResponse47 account on X, McMahon detailed the administration’s education reform goals, which include reducing regulatory overheads, closing the US Department of Education, and shifting authority back to state governments. The video clip was taken from a Newsmax broadcast and marked 200 days since Trump announced a return to state-led education.More than 50% of school funding goes to regulatory complianceAccording to McMahon, more than half of the funds allocated to schools are currently being spent on regulatory compliance. She said, as quoted in the clip, “The fact that we have to spend over 50 cents of every dollar that goes to a school for regulatory compliance is just ridiculous. That money should be going to kids. It should be going to schools. It should be put into the teachers’ pay.”The Newsmax interview included visual banners reinforcing the message of decentralising education. McMahon made it clear that the administration’s focus is not on removing education, but on reducing federal interference. “What the president wants to do is to get the bureaucracy out of education,” McMahon stated, as shared by @RapidResponse47.Plans to shut down the US Department of EducationMcMahon further indicated that President Trump intends to close the Department of Education and reassign its essential responsibilities to other agencies. She said, “I think actually he would like to see the doors closed and all aspects of the Department of Education into other agencies or those that are not necessary, you know, to be abolished,” as reported in the same interview clip.This proposed restructuring is aimed at eliminating what the administration sees as unnecessary layers of federal oversight. McMahon emphasised that funds currently used for administrative processes should instead be directed toward student learning and teacher compensation.Returning control to states, parents, and teachersA core part of the proposed reform is the devolution of control over education back to the states. McMahon said this change would allow governors, state superintendents, parents, and teachers to have a more active role in shaping student instruction. She stated, “I think we’re going to have much better education in our country by returning it to the states, where governors, where state superintendents, where parents and teachers will have more involvement in teaching our students,” as quoted by @RapidResponse47.National performance data cited to justify reformsMcMahon referenced data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to highlight concerns with current student outcomes. She pointed out that only 30% of eighth-grade students are proficient in reading, while 70% fall below that standard. Calling it “an incredibly unacceptable statistic for our country,” she underscored the need for urgent change, according to the Newsmax segment.The @RapidResponse47 account, which posted the video, supports the Trump administration’s America First agenda and often shares official policy updates.TOI Education is on WhatsApp now. Follow us here.
