Education Secretary Linda McMahon visited North Dakota and Colorado on consecutive days in late August as part of her “Returning Education to the States Tour,” a public campaign to build political support for reducing the federal Department of Education’s policy and funding role.
The tour is described as a visible effort to generate state-level backing for shifting education authority away from Washington. McMahon’s visits to two geographically and politically distinct states suggest the campaign is targeting a broad coalition.
A cabinet secretary publicly touring the country to advocate reducing her own department’s authority is an unusual political dynamic. The effort aligns with the administration’s broader decentralization agenda, which has sought to return federal program authority to state governments across multiple agencies.
The tour may be previewing legislative or executive action on federal education funding structures, including possible block grant proposals that would give states greater flexibility in how they spend federal education dollars. Current federal education funding flows through categorical programs with specific requirements for how money is used.
For the approximately 50 million students in U.S. public schools, changes to federal education funding structures could have significant consequences. Federal dollars support programs for students with disabilities, low-income students, English language learners and other populations that states have historically underfunded without federal requirements.
North Dakota and Colorado represent different education policy environments. North Dakota is a conservative, rural state with a small education system, while Colorado has a larger, more diverse student population and a mix of urban and rural districts.
Teachers’ unions, including the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, have historically opposed reducing the federal education role, arguing that federal requirements protect vulnerable student populations. Education reform advocates have generally supported greater state flexibility.
The specific policy proposals McMahon is promoting on the tour were not detailed in available release content.