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Linda McMahon says the Department of Education needs to be overhauled.
The newly confirmed education secretary described the task ahead as a "historic final mission."
President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for the department to be shut down.
Newly confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon told staffers on Monday that the department must embark on a "momentous final mission" as it undergoes a "historic overhaul."
"This review of our programs is long overdue. The Department of Education is not working as intended," McMahon wrote in an email.
Business Insider viewed McMahon's email, titled "Our Department's Final Mission." McMahon was confirmed as education secretary on Monday, and the email was also posted to the Department of Education's website late Monday evening.
In her email, McMahon asked Department of Education staff to apply "dedication and excellence" to the agency's "historic final mission."
"As I've learned many times throughout my career, disruption leads to innovation and gets results. We must start thinking about our final mission at the department as an overhaul — a last chance to restore the culture of liberty and excellence that made American education great," McMahon wrote.
"True change does not happen overnight — especially the historic overhaul of a federal agency," she added.
In her email, McMahon called for the removal of "red tape and bureaucratic barriers" and an "effective transfer of educational oversight to the states."
She also outlined three department "convictions," one of which states that parents should be the primary decision-makers in their children's education. In another, she wrote that education should focus on math, reading, science, and history instead of "divisive DEI programs and gender ideology."
McMahon also wrote that postsecondary education should result in a "well-paying career aligned with workforce needs."
McMahon's stance on the DEI convictions aligns with the Trump administration's broader move to clamp down on diversity-related initiatives.
Trump has called for the elimination of the Department of Education
Trump announced McMahon's nomination as education secretary in November.
McMahon, who was the WWE's CEO from 1997 to 2009, was part of the first Trump administration and headed the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019.
While on the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly called for the Department of Education to be shut down.
"We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on November 19.
In 2017, during his first term, Trump proposed a $9 billion cut to the department's budget.
"I told Linda, 'Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job.' I want her to put herself out of a job," Trump told reporters on February 4 when asked about McMahon's nomination.
During her confirmation hearing on February 13, McMahon said the department can only be abolished with congressional approval.
"It is set up by the United States Congress, and we work with Congress. It clearly cannot be shut down without it," McMahon told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions during the hearing.
McMahon, the White House, and the Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment from BI.
Read the original article on Business Insider
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