linda-mcmahon education school-choice vouchers privatization project-2025 class-analysis follow-the-money
related: _Linda McMahon Master Profile donors: (Private education and for-profit charter networks — no specific nodes)
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School Choice and the Education Privatization Agenda
Money
Linda McMahon’s education agenda — vouchers, Education Savings Accounts, charter expansion — redirects public school funding to private, religious, and for-profit institutions. She endorsed Louisiana’s GATOR program (taxpayer funds for private/homeschool expenses) within weeks of confirmation. Her policy positions align with Project 2025’s education chapter. Prior education experience: one year on Connecticut’s State Board of Education (2009). The agenda doesn’t serve students — it serves the private education industry that constitutes a growing segment of the donor class. Public schools serve 90% of American children. The “choice” is to defund them.
The Policy Agenda
Education Savings Accounts (ESAs):
McMahon supports Arizona-model ESAs — accounts funded with taxpayer money that parents can spend on private school tuition, homeschool materials, tutoring, or other education expenses. The model diverts per-pupil funding from public schools to private spending.
Voucher Expansion:
Federal voucher programs that allow public education dollars to fund private and religious school tuition. The mechanism: taxpayer money flows to institutions with no public accountability, no standardized testing requirements, and no obligation to serve all students.
Project 2025 Alignment:
The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 education chapter — co-authored by former DeVos appointees Robert S. Eitel and Jim Blew — calls for:
- Expanding federal vouchers modeled on Arizona’s ESA program
- Eliminating the Department of Education’s regulatory authority
- Redirecting Title I and IDEA funding to “portable” accounts
- Ending enforcement of civil rights protections in private schools receiving public funds
McMahon’s AFPI drafted complementary policies: 86% enactment rate in Trump’s first 100 days.
The DeVos Comparison
| | Betsy DeVos (2017-2021) | Linda McMahon (2025-present) | |—|----------------------|---------------------------| | Net worth | $5.4B | $3.2B | | Education experience | Philanthropic advocacy | 1 year on CT board | | Donor total to Trump | $200K+ (DeVos family: millions to GOP) | $50M+ | | Policy agenda | School choice, charter expansion | School choice, vouchers, ESAs | | Think tank backing | Heritage, AEI | AFPI (McMahon founded) |
The difference: DeVos was a donor-class advocate appointed to implement someone else’s agenda. McMahon wrote the agenda at AFPI, placed 73 alumni to support it, and then entered the department to oversee the execution herself.
Money
“School choice” is the rhetorical frame. The mechanism is simpler: redirect taxpayer funding from public institutions with democratic accountability to private institutions with none. Public schools must serve every student, including those with disabilities, those who speak English as a second language, and those the private market doesn’t want. Private schools choose their students. When “choice” means redirecting funding to institutions that can reject the students public schools are required to serve, the word doesn’t mean what it appears to mean. It means the donor class gets access to the education budget.