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    • Linda McMahon once said she had a teaching degree. She doesn’t.
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    Linda McMahon once said she had a teaching degree. She doesn’t.

    Vaseline Posted on

    USA TODAY has obtained a copy of a questionnaire Linda McMahon filled out to serve on a state education board. She incorrectly stated that she had a bachelor’s degree in educational administration.

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    WASHINGTON – On January 9, 2009, Linda McMahon completed a vetting questionnaire to serve on the Connecticut State Board of Education.

    She then indicated she had earned a bachelor’s degree in education, according to a copy of the original form provided to USA TODAY by the governor’s office.

    She didn’t.

    McMahon, a billionaire wrestling manager who graduated from East Carolina University in 1969, actually has a bachelor’s degree in French, the school confirmed to USA TODAY on Wednesday. Although its academic program at the time was designed to prepare teachers for instruction, McMahon does not have a degree in education, according to the school.

    In a 2010 interview with the Hartford Courant, which first reported on the discrepancy more than a decade ago, McMahon said she eventually wrote a letter to Jodi Rell, the governor who appointed her at the time, to correct the error .

    The false 2009 statement has come under renewed scrutiny since President-elect Trump announced Tuesday night that he would nominate McMahon as secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. She has been at the helm of his transition team since he was re-elected.

    In a statement Tuesday evening, Trump said McMahon, who also served in his Cabinet during his first term and has been a staunch ally of his, would be a “fierce advocate” for parental rights and would fight “tirelessly” to advance the school choice movement expand. .

    “Linda will use her decades of leadership experience and deep knowledge of both education and business to empower the next generation of American students and workers and make America number one in education in the world,” Trump wrote in a social post media.

    Trump’s transition team did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday, but spokesman Brian Hughes told The Washington Post, which first revived old news reports on the issue, that the “clarification was raised many, many years ago.” .

    “These types of politically motivated attacks are the new normal for nominees willing to carry out President Trump’s common-sense mandate that an overwhelming majority of Americans supported two weeks ago,” Hughes said.

    The McMahon nomination revives old controversies

    In 2009, McMahon faced what local news reports described as a “controversial” confirmation process in the Connecticut Legislature to serve on the state Board of Education.

    “Some of you may be wondering why the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment would be interested in serving on the state Board of Education,” she told members of a legislative committee in February. “Allow me to explain.”

    She initially attended East Carolina University hoping to become a teacher, but told the panel that getting married in college to Vince McMahon changed the course of her life and professional career. Instead, she went on to help him build their wrestling entertainment company, which eventually grew into a multi-billion dollar business.

    McMahon’s connections to WWE reportedly became a source of controversy at the time due to its violent and crude programming. Although she was ultimately confirmed for the position, she resigned after about a year following a decision to impose new restrictions on the political activities of Board of Education members, the Courant reported.

    The billionaire’s WWE ties could land her in trouble again amid looming Senate confirmation hearings. She is named in a recent lawsuit accusing her and her husband of failing to stop decades of sexual assault on minors by a former WWE employee.

    Jessica Rosenberg, an attorney for Vince McMahon, said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports in October that the claims in the lawsuit are “absurd, defamatory and completely meritless.”

    Read more: Negligence lawsuit filed against WWE, Vince McMahon, by ‘ring boys’ alleging sexual abuse

    What professional experience does McMahon have in education?

    On Tuesday, Trump praised McMahon’s tenure on the board of trustees of Sacred Heart University, a private institution in Fairfield, Connecticut. He also praised her for pushing school choice policy as head of the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-aligned think tank.

    Like Betsy DeVos, Trump’s first education secretary who resigned over disagreements with him over the Jan. 6 insurrection, McMahon has significantly less experience in this field than a typical education secretary. Miguel Cardona, President Joe Biden’s pick for the job, worked as a teacher and school administrator for more than two decades before becoming commissioner of the Connecticut State Department of Education in 2019. President Barack Obama’s education secretary, Arne Duncan, previously oversaw Chicago public schools.

    Read more: Betsy DeVos says Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 were a “line in the sand” that led to resignation

    Trump appointed McMahon in 2016 to head the Small Business Administration, an agency she led until 2019. Since his election victory this month, she has been one of several Trump allies driving his broader efforts to put together a new administration.

    Washington digs into McMahon’s track record

    Following Trump’s announcement on Tuesday, Washington insiders have been poring over McMahon’s previous statements, looking for clues as to where she stands on key policy issues she could influence as head of the Department of Education (an agency that Trump has said he wants to abolish it).

    Read more: Trump wants to close the Department of Education. It’s much easier said than done.

    She is a strong supporter of apprenticeships and has highlighted its importance on her social media platforms in recent days. She went to a regional public university, which could be welcome news for those types of schools.

    She also supports a bill moving through Congress that would expand Pell Grant funding, which provides free federal money to low-income students, to smaller education programs. While this legislation is bipartisan, critics say it could ultimately divert funding to short-term professional training programs that sometimes take advantage of students. Supporters say it would make college alternatives more affordable.

    Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who will lead the Senate’s main committee overseeing schools in the next Congress, said in a statement Wednesday that he looked forward to meeting with McMahon about the job.

    “I agree with President Trump’s statement that we need someone who is going to focus on parental choice in raising children,” he said. “Linda McMahon’s experience running the Small Business Administration could obviously help run another agency.”

    Congressional Democrats were more circumspect about the nomination. Representative Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat and ranking member of the House education panel, said he would wait to pass judgment on McMahon’s nomination until it has been fully vetted by the Senate.

    “I am firmly opposed to President-elect Trump’s education agenda,” he said. “If Ms. McMahon does indeed support this agenda and will work to actively dismantle the progress of the Biden-Harris administration, I will not support her nomination.”

    Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele.

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