00:00Thank you, Ranking Member, and I now would like to turn to our witness, Secretary McMahon,
00:11and you'll have five minutes to deliver your opening remarks.
00:15You've submitted written testimony.
00:17It will be included in the full record, but we do recognize you and look forward to your
00:21comments.
00:23Thank you very much.
00:24Chairman Annerhold, Ranking Member DeLauro, and distinguished members of the subcommittee,
00:28thank you for having me today to represent a department on a mission, its final mission,
00:35to wind down the Department of Education responsibly, cut waste, and give education back to the
00:41states, parents, and educators, all in a lawful fashion.
00:45With your partnership, the fiscal year 26 budget will take a significant step toward that goal.
00:51We seek to shrink federal bureaucracy, save taxpayer money, and empower states who best
00:57know their local needs to manage education in this country.
01:01We have reviewed our programs and identified spending that does not fulfill the mandate
01:06of trust the American people have placed in President Trump.
01:10We've reduced a department that was overstaffed by thousands of positions, cut old contracts
01:16that were enriching private parties at taxpayer expense, suspended grants for illegal DEI programs,
01:22and now we're putting forward a budget request that reduces department funding by more than
01:2815%.
01:29At the same time, we're working to make American education great again.
01:35In our conversations with governors, teachers, and parents across the country, we hear calls
01:40for accountability and more local control.
01:42That's our goal, to give parents access to the quality education their kids deserve, to fix the
01:50broken higher education industry that has misled students into degrees that don't pay off, and
01:56to create safe learning environments for our students.
02:00We're holding institutions to account when they facilitate discriminatory or hostile environments
02:07on campus.
02:08A level playing field with limitless opportunity is a vision I think we all can share.
02:15Our budget reflects this vision.
02:17Its cuts reflect a bureaucracy that is getting out of the way, and its continuations and increases
02:24represent smart spending that will help improve student achievement, not serve bureaucratic interests.
02:31Our goal is clear, make education better, fairer, and more accountable by ending federal overreach
02:39and empowering families, schools, and states who best know the needs of their students.
02:44I'm eager to partner with you to make this vision of the future a reality, and to ensure every
02:50child is part of it.
02:52Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
02:54Thank you, Madam Secretary, and again, we appreciate your attendance here today for the subcommittee.
03:03The latest National Assessment of Education Progress report, our results are, quite honestly,
03:13pretty unacceptable.
03:15Too many students have fallen behind in basic subjects, and they have not realigned a learning
03:21loss during the time of the pandemic.
03:23For the sake of students and their parents, I appreciate your call for bold change.
03:29As we re-examine our approach to education, I think it's important to recognize that we
03:35can appropriately limit the federal role in education while continuing support in key areas,
03:43as I mentioned earlier, schools near military installations and under-resourced rural schools.
03:47Could you talk to us a little bit about the department's plan to refocus on the core educational
03:53achievement while reducing the bureaucracy overall?
03:58Sure.
03:59Well, I have – thank you very much.
04:02And I have really three priorities as the Secretary of Education, and that is to increase school
04:12choice, but I really want to focus everything we're doing in our competitive grants on literacy.
04:18I think that is the absolute basis of what we need to do.
04:21We want to – we want to increase school choice for students so that we don't have children
04:26trapped in our failing schools.
04:28And we want to return education to the states, and that's really our priority.
04:33So it's threefold and very simple.
04:35Let's focus on literacy.
04:37What we're seeing in those scores that you're talking about, Congressman Adderholt, is the
04:42failing of our students to learn to read.
04:45From first through third grade or pre-K into third grade, you're learning to read.
04:50And after that, you are reading to learn.
04:52And if you cannot read, you cannot learn.
04:56And that is one of the reasons, I believe sincerely, that we have seen such decreases
05:01or failing in our schools, because we are not teaching our children to read.
05:06We've lost the fundamental basics.
05:09And I want to see our schools return to the science of reading, which focuses on phonics,
05:14which focuses on understanding and fluency in reading.
05:18Because if we can get that right, I think we're going to see a great deal of improvement
05:23in our schools across our country.
05:26But we're not doing it.
05:27And I think there have been programs that have been tried with the best of intentions,
05:30but they've not succeeded.
05:32Here we are today with a Department of Education that was really stood up in 1980 by President Carter.
05:39We've spent over $3 trillion during that time.
05:42And every year, we have seen our scores continue to either stagnate or fall.
05:48It is clear that we are not doing something right.
05:52We need a change.
05:53We need a shakeup.
05:55We need to do things differently than what we're doing.
05:57And let's get back and focus on what was successful.
06:01Let's focus on our public schools as well as charter schools, as well as other schools that can deliver homeschooling.
06:11The president is absolutely focused on making sure that children have the right to an education that is best for them
06:20and that parents should be deciding where their children can go to school and get the best education.
06:27They should have those opportunities, whether they're private schools, charter schools, public schools, homeschooling.
06:33They need to have the choice so that they can succeed.
06:37I believe that parents know what's best for their children.
06:40I think that parents working with local educators, local superintendents can develop those programs for schools which will deliver the best results.
06:49The president and I certainly agree that the best education is that that is closest to the child.
06:54Who better to know and understand what a child's needs are than that teacher working in the classroom,
07:01than that parent in cooperation with the teachers in that classroom to help understand what that child needs.
07:07So clearly my focus is definitely going to continue on bringing education closest to the states.
07:14And I, like you, Ranking Member DeLauro, am a product of public school systems.
07:20My parents had dreams for me as well.
07:22I was an only child and they really wanted to make sure that I went to college and had the opportunity for the American dream.
07:29So I appreciate very much that background and where you were coming from as well.
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