Why Linda McMahon wants Oklahoma to move away from federal testing rules

Time of India

20 hours ago

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon's visit to Oklahoma on Tuesday offered a glimpse into how the Trump administration plans to rewire America's public school system: By dismantling federal oversight and returning control to the states.
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At the heart of the conversation was a proposal to replace statewide standardized testing with locally chosen assessments, a plan advanced by Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters. While McMahon acknowledged the idea had 'not gone through all the different steps' for approval, she signaled openness to rethinking the decades-old system that ties federal funding to uniform student exams.
'We want to give them the most flexibility that we can give them to operate within their state,' McMahon said while speaking with reporters at the state Capitol.
A tour with political undertones
McMahon's schedule underscored the political theater surrounding education policy. She appeared alongside Gov. Kevin Stitt and former House Speaker Charles McCall, now running for governor, but not with Walters — despite his vocal support for the Trump administration. The absence reflected a deepening rift between Oklahoma's top education officials, who have sparred publicly for months.
Her tour of Dove Science Academy, a high-performing charter school in Warr Acres, doubled as a showcase for the administration's vision. Students flew drones, coded robots, and even programmed a robot dog to shake McMahon's hand. That same day,
U.S. News & World Report
ranked the academy as the third-best high school in Oklahoma.
Later, she joined Stitt at the Capitol as he signed a bill banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs from higher education institutions — a priority that mirrors the Trump administration's broader agenda.
Cutting Washington down to size
McMahon's trip is part of her 50-state 'Returning Education to the States Tour,' a campaign launched after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for mass downsizing at the Department of Education. President Trump has tasked McMahon with nothing less than dismantling the agency itself.
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The administration's proposal envisions funneling federal dollars into large block grants, giving states discretion over spending. In theory, it would free schools from the maze of compliance paperwork that governors like Stitt argue drains resources. But any major restructuring would require congressional approval, where questions of accountability and equity loom large.
Oklahoma's paradox
Stitt pointed to his state's recent moves to expand charter funding, offer tax credits for private-school families, and boost overall education spending as evidence of progress.
Yet national assessments still rank Oklahoma near the bottom in student outcomes, exposing the tension between expanding choice and improving academic performance.
McMahon avoided commenting directly on whether she trusts Walters's leadership, even as his department faces persistent turmoil. Instead, she emphasized flexibility and deregulation as the north stars of federal policy.
The bigger picture
The debate in Oklahoma captures a larger national moment: the push to redefine what role, if any, Washington should play in American classrooms.
By sidelining standardized tests and federal regulations, the Trump administration is seeking to place the burden, and opportunity, squarely on states.
For supporters, it is a long-overdue chance to strip away bureaucracy and focus on students. For critics, it risks deepening inequalities between districts and undermining efforts to measure progress on a common scale.
What is clear is that McMahon's tour is not just symbolic. It is a preview of the classroom battles ahead, where the fight is less about robots and rankings and more about who gets to decide what education looks like in the 21st century.
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