在琳达·麦克马洪的听证会之前成为下一个教育部部长美国2024年年度教师表示，他们担心公共教育的未来受到直接攻击。
2024年马萨诸塞州年度教师德肖恩·华盛顿(De'Shawn C. Washington)表示，如果教育部拆卸在麦克马洪手下。
“这是一个很好的机会，现在可以对我们的孩子进行更多的投资，而不是收回投资，”华盛顿告诉美国广播公司新闻。“继续努力，看着这些种子成长并成为一种收获，这样我们的国家才能繁荣昌盛。”
唐纳德·特朗普总统正在准备废除教育部的行政命令。据报道，这项尚未签署的命令要求教育部长提交一份削减该部门的提案，并敦促国会通过立法取消该部门。
麦克马洪发誓要执行总统的政策，她的盟友表示，他们相信她有商业头脑，可以在她认为合适的时候削减预算。
弗吉尼亚的杰夫·凯勒认为，即将到来的院系调整对弱势学生来说可能是毁灭性的。凯勒警告说，关闭联邦机构可能意味着学生将受到更少的保护，学校将受到更少的监督。
“当我想到教育部意味着什么时，它意味着捍卫儿童的公民权利，”凯勒告诉美国广播公司新闻。
“无论是残疾学生有能力进入大楼和在大楼周围走动……无论是保护，你知道，少数种族，以确保教育成果对他们来说是公平的——我的意思是，我认为这是全面的，”凯勒说。
科罗拉多州的杰西卡·梅(Jessica May)说，她担心如果这个部门被取消，她的学生的基本需求将无法得到满足。
“我最担心的是，他们将得不到生存、生活所需的关注、照顾和奉献，”梅说。
然而，废除教育部只有在国会通过立法取消它的情况下才能实现。美利坚大学的克莱尔·麦肯表示，未经国会授权“取消”该部门是非法的，而且需要60票赞成才能在参议院通过。
尽管如此，这些教师都在2024年获得了他们所在州的最高教学荣誉，他们说他们现在是一个紧张的群体。
扎克·阿伦茨(Zach Arenz)是纽约的年度教师，他预测教师会流失，班级人数会增加，成绩差距会扩大，富裕社区通过教育券计划变得更加富裕。
“所有这些都将导致一个薄弱的公共教育系统，”他告诉美国广播公司新闻。“如果我们的公共教育系统不成功，就没有未来。”
阿伦茨说，他希望老师们能被倾听，继续前进。肯塔基州的凯文·戴利说，他也担心学生的机会，认为保守的教育券计划将使公立学校系统私有化，并丰富私营企业。
“为了促进我们社区的发展，肯塔基州的学校每年从教育部获得超过10亿美元的联邦资金，”Dailey告诉ABC新闻。“肯塔基人，不仅仅是老师，不仅仅是公立学校的学生，而是肯塔基人相信强大的公立学校。”
麦克马洪是“在她的头上”
总统挑选的麦克马洪将于周四在国会山的立法者面前实施他在全国学校中注入学校选择的愿景。她被提名为下一任教育部部长，这遭到了许多顶级教育工作者的厌恶。
2024年密苏里年度教师格雷格·凯斯特告诉美国广播公司新闻说:“她已经超出了她的能力范围。凯斯特已经教了30多年书，他说麦克马洪的地位比亿万富翁、川普的第一任教育部长贝琪·德沃斯低一级，他认为教育不是麦克马洪的“使命”
然而，麦克马洪在转向摔跤竞技场之前获得了东卡罗莱纳大学的教学证书。麦克马洪职业生涯的大部分时间都是作为企业高管和摔跤大亨度过的，总统称赞她在商业和教育方面的知识。
但是印第安纳州的埃里克·詹金斯告诉ABC新闻，这两个领域有明显的不同。
詹金斯说:“商业和教育之间有相似之处，但最核心的区别是目的。“所以企业的目的是增加利润。教育的目的是增加所有学生的机会。”
埃隆·马斯克(Elon Musk)的政府效率部(Department of Government Efficiency)本周对教育部进行了大规模削减，削减了该部教育科学研究所(Institute of Education Sciences)价值近9亿美元的关键独立研究合同。詹金斯说，他支持一个致力于创造效率的部门——只要预算削减不会束缚学生。
詹金斯说:“让我们走到一起的是，这些不同州的老师，不管他们是蓝还是红，我们都把这些数字看作是我们学生的脸。我认为这就是我们的出发点，那就是我们真正看到了削减开支所带来的影响。"
犹他州共和党众议员Burgess Owens等保守派人士表示，麦克马洪拥有为所有学生创造创新解决方案的商业思维。
然而，弗吉尼亚州的凯勒说，他不同意，指出该国的下一任教育局长应该运行该国的公立学校系统，就像它是社会的“骨干”，而不是一个公司。
“我不认为你必须成为一名K-12教师，但我认为你必须有一种心态，明白学校的存在不是为了教师或学生的利益:它们是为了社会的利益，”凯勒说。“这不是生意。我们不是在做生意。学校不是这样的。”
Top public school teachers fear looming Department of Education changes
Ahead of Linda McMahon's hearing to become the nextsecretary of the Department of Education, America's state teachers of the year for 2024 have said they worry the future of public education is under direct attack.
De'Shawn C. Washington, the 2024 Massachusetts teacher of the year, said he will be heartbroken if the Department of Education isdismantledunder McMahon.
"This is a great opportunity to invest even more in our children right now, instead of retracting," Washington told ABC News. "To pull further in, to watch those seeds grow and become a harvest, so that our country could thrive."
President Donald Trump is preparing an executive order to abolish the Department of Education. The order, which has not been signed yet, reportedly calls for the education secretary to submit a proposal to diminish the department and urges Congress to pass legislation to get rid of it.
McMahon has vowed to carry out the president's policies, and her allies have said they believe she has the business acumen to make budget cuts as she sees fit.
The looming department changes could be devastating for vulnerable students, according to Jeff Keller of Virginia. Keller warned shuttering the federal agency could mean students will have less protections and schools will have less oversight.
"When I think about what the Department of Education means, it means safeguarding kids' civil rights," Keller told ABC News.
"Whether that's students with disabilities having the ability to get into the building and to get around the building … whether that's safeguarding, you know, racial minorities to make sure that educational outcomes are equitable for them -- I mean, I think it's across the board," Keller said.
Colorado's Jessica May said she fears her students' basic needs won't be met if the department is abolished.
"What I am most afraid of is they are not going to get the attention and the care and the dedication that they need to survive, to live," May said.
However, abolishing the Department of Education can only be done if Congress passes legislation to eliminate it. Clare McCann at American University said it is illegal to "uncreate" the department without congressional authorization -- and it would require 60 votes in favor of the legislation in the Senate to pass.
Still, these teachers, who were all awarded their states' top teaching honors in 2024, said they're a nervous group right now.
Zach Arenz, the New York teacher of the year, predicted lost educators, increased class sizes and a widening achievement gap in which wealthy communities get wealthier through school voucher programs.
"All of these things are going to lead to a weak public education system," he told ABC News. "If our public education system isn't successful, there is no future."
Arenz said he hopes teachers are listened to moving forward. Kentucky's Kevin Dailey said he is also worried about student opportunities, arguing a conservative school voucher push would privatize the public school system and enrich private businesses.
"Kentucky schools receive over $1 billion a year in federal funds [from the Department of Education] in order to facilitate the growth of our communities," Dailey told ABC News. "Kentuckians, not just teachers, not just public school students, but Kentuckians believe in strong public schools."
McMahon is 'in over her head'
McMahon, the president's pick to carry out his vision for injecting school choice throughout the nation's schools, will go before lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Thursday. Her nomination to become the next secretary of the Department of Education has been loathed by many top educators.
"She's well in over her head," Greg Kester, the 2024 Missouri teacher of the year, told ABC News. Kester has been teaching over 30 years and said McMahon is a step down from billionaire Betsy DeVos, Trump's first education chief, arguing education isn't McMahon's "calling."
However, McMahon earned a teaching certification from East Carolina University before pivoting to the wrestling arena. McMahon spent most of her career as a business executive and wrestling mogul, and the president has praised her for her knowledge of both business and education.
But Indiana's Eric Jenkins told ABC News there's a distinct difference between the two fields.
"There are similarities between business and education, but the core difference -- the purpose," Jenkins said. "So the purpose of a business is to increase profits. The purpose of education is to increase opportunity for all students."
Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency made sizable cuts to the Department of Education this week, slashing critical independent research contracts at the department's Institute of Education Sciences worth nearly $900 million. Jenkins said he embraces a department that works to create efficiency -- so long as the budget cuts don't hamstring students.
"What brings us together, these different state teachers, regardless if they're blue or red, is that we see those numbers actually as our students' faces," Jenkins said. "I think that's where we're coming from, is that we truly see the faces and the impacts that cuts are going to make."
Conservatives such as Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, said McMahon has the business mindset to create innovative solutions for all students.
However, Virginia's Keller said he disagrees, noting the nation's next education chief should run the country's public school system like it's the "backbone" of society, not a corporation.
"I don't think you got to be a K-12 teacher, but I do think you have to have a mindset that understands schools don't exist for the benefits of teachers or the benefit of students: They exist for the benefit of society," Keller said. "It's not a business. We're not in business. That's not what schools are."
