Linda McMahon, Changing the Edu-Questions
The first time I met Linda McMahon, our future U.S. Education Secretary, I’m pretty sure she thought I was gaslighting her. I was only a few weeks into my role as chief executive officer of the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN), one of the nation’s leading state-based education reform organizations. One of my first official acts was presiding over our inaugural “block party,” a fundraising event that brought together large and small donors, all of whom were supportive of education reform and school choice.
Before I delivered my first public speech as the organization’s new leader, I spent time working the room, introducing myself to donors and supporters. As I was walking around, I spotted McMahon, and I couldn’t resist taking my shot.
After introducing myself as ConnCAN’s new CEO, I turned into total fanboy, informing McMahon that her company played an important role in my childhood. She just looked at me incredulously, with her body language revealing someone who had received way too much pushback regarding her company, the WWE. Her response to me? “Oh yeah, well who was your favorite?”
I immediately reverted back to the mid-1980s and the era of the Rock-n-Wresting Connection. Always the contrarian, my childhood favorite was Rowdy Roddy Piper, not Hulk Hogan. I quickly rattled off a few of my favorite matches, including traveling to Long Island to see the first Wrestlemania on closed circuit television with tens of thousands of others at the Nassau Coliseum. I chose not to reveal the large array of the Rowdy One’s action figures and trading cards that I still collect today.
Quickly, a smile came across McMahon’s face and she knew I was being sincere with my comments. She nodded and said, “Yes, he was a really good one.” We spent another 10 minutes chatting old-school WWF, before it was time for me to deliver my remarks. My speech was good, as I tried to emulate what Piper once said, “I’m not here to win popularity contests, I’m here to make a difference,” but my conversation with Linda McMahon was the highlight of my evening.
The following year, I had the opportunity to have a number of conversations with McMahon, including a lunch meeting with just the two of us, to discuss education reform. Sure, I knew that she was running for the U.S. Senate for a second time, but I never got the sense our conversations were her way of earning political chits with me or my organization’s donors. She seemed to have real interest in education, education reform, teacher supports, and school choice.
It’s been years since I thought about my education discussions with Linda McMahon, but the recent news that McMahon was President-elect Trump’s intended nominee to be U.S. Education Secretary has me reflecting on those conversations, searching for some further insights or greater meaning.
Having spent most of my professional career working in the education space, starting with focusing on the science of reading as the chief of staff for the National Reading Panel and the U.S. Partnership for Reading to my current work building the largest producer of American history education films in the nation, many that run in my professional circles are clutching their pearls, fearful of what McMahon will do with her “consolation prize” on Maryland Avenue. Me? I’m cautiously optimistic on what the next four years can bring.
By now, most of those who care about who sits in the big chair on the seventh floor of the U.S. Education Department building have heard the official bio. Brief service on the Connecticut State Board of Education. Long-time commitment as a board member at Sacred Heart University. Two campaigns for the U.S. Senate. And years as director of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term. But those Wikipedia entries provide little value in understanding what may come to the federal role in public education.
Now, I’m reflecting on my discussions with McMahon about literacy rates in the United States, why so many fourth graders failed to achieve reading proficiency, and whether the science of reading (then called scientifically based reading instruction) could actually move the needle.
I’m reflecting on our numerous conversations about struggling public schools and what could be done to better support teachers and provide opportunities to learners and their families. While much of this centered on the role public charter schools could and should play, McMahon seemed to be open to educational innovation of all types.
I’m reflecting on her interest in higher education, looking at institutions like Sacred Heart and how they could provide comprehensive undergraduate educations to all comers, outperforming and outdelivering the name-brand universities often sought by others.
And I’m reflecting on McMahon’s interest in career preparation and career development, as she saw the value in vocational education, apprenticeships, and internships while realizing that the diversity of our learners requires a diversity of learning paths and opportunities.
Sure, some of the negative nabobs are focused on McMahon’s on-camera persona for the WWE, failing to see that she was just playing a role for her fans and her viewers. The McMahon I engaged with was a serious person, full of questions and a desire to learn more about the issues she felt impacted the community. Someone, in Piper’s words, who is more interested in making a difference than winning a popularity contest.
Yes, we all await what will be McMahon’s education agenda. For me, I’m hoping it focuses on the same issues she probed and debated with me. Literacy and reading instruction. School choice. Family empowerment. College affordability and excellence. Expanded opportunities for all, particularly for those often forgotten by failing public systems.
Roddy Piper once famously said, “Just when you think you know the answers, I change the questions.” We’ve known the answers in public education for decades, with no real changes in outcomes or opportunities for learners. Maybe it actually is time for us to start changing the questions. And maybe, just maybe, EdSec-designate Linda McMahon is just the person to change those edu-questions.
