Two local districts have cancelled school visits from Connecticut’s own U.S. Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, amid community backlash.
The controversy is just the latest to surround McMahon, of Greenwich, since she replaced Meriden-native Miguel Cardona, leading the U.S. Department of Education in March 2025.
The events are part of a 50-state tour by McMahon announced in early Dec. 2025 called History Rocks! Trail to Independence Tour. Although the tour claimed to “showcase examples of high-quality history and civics instruction that bring American principles to life,” districts across the country have been cancelling due to concerns about partisanship.
Thomaston cancelled McMahon’s visit, which was scheduled for Tuesday, March 17.
"Cancelling the event is the most responsible course of action to maintain a safe and orderly environment for our students and staff," Thomaston School District Superintendent Francine Coss wrote in a message to parents on Tuesday afternoon.
In late January, Fairfield’s McKinley Elementary School cancelled a visit just hours after it was announced, due to backlash from the community.
“Elementary schools are not appropriate venues for programming tied to national political agendas or affiliated advocacy groups. Our schools must remain places where children feel safe, supported, and focused on learning,” said a statement from the Fairfield Representative Town Meeting members Emma Barron, Rob Blanchard, Erik Drewniak, and Tracy Rodriguez.
A tour stop in Mobile, Ala. has also been cancelled, and significant protest has been reported following stops in Chicago, Ill. and Colts Neck, N.J.
As controversy grows over McMahon’s tour, it highlights the many differences between successive Connecticut education secretaries McMahon and Cardona, and their markedly different paths to Washington, D.C.
Cardona, who served under former President Joe Biden, and McMahon, who currently serves under President Donald Trump, have very different backgrounds, experiences and goals for the future of education.
Miguel Cardona
Miguel Cardona served as the U.S. Secretary of Education from March 2021 to January 2025 under former President Joe Biden.
Cardona’s term focused on rooting education in equity and accessibility, ensuring affordability in higher education and expanding support services, such as mental health programs for students and educators. Cardona also spearheaded the Raise the Bar initiative, aimed at strengthening student achievement, diversifying career opportunities and multilingual education, and ensuring accessibility in higher education.
A first-generation college student and Spanish and English speaker, Cardona has been outspoken in his advocacy for multilingualism in schools and equal access to education regardless of income, gender or race.
During his term, Cardona facilitated the addition of 16,000 mental health experts in schools across the country and oversaw over $175 billion in college debt relief to approximately 5 million people.
Born in Meriden, Cardona received his bachelor’s degree in education from Central Connecticut State University. He later earned a master’s degree in bilingual and bicultural education and a doctoral degree in education from the University of Connecticut.
Cardona began his career teaching fourth grade at Israel Putnam Elementary School in Meriden, in the same school district he attended as a child. After five years in the classroom, Cardona was promoted to principal for Meriden’s Hanover Elementary School, making him Connecticut’s youngest principal at 28 years old. In 2012, Cardona was awarded the National Distinguished Principal Award for Connecticut and the Outstanding Administrator Award from the same university he received his master’s and doctoral degrees from, the UConn Neag School of Education.
Cardona then took on an administrative role as Meriden’s district performance and evaluation specialist in 2013. In 2019, Cardona became the Connecticut Commissioner of Education.
As Commissioner, Cardona championed the reopening of Connecticut schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also focused on bridging the digital divide, leading Connecticut to be the first state in the country that provided laptops and internet services for public school students during the pandemic to ensure successful remote learning.
Cardona, in his own words
- Cardona on the importance of higher education: “I am living proof that expanding access to higher education opens doors. I wouldn’t be here today as Secretary of Education without the opportunities higher education opened for me. That’s why I’m fighting to make higher education accessible for ALL our students,” he said in a 2024 Instagram post.
- Cardona on bilingualism: “It is because of the bilingual educators I have been blessed to serve alongside that I often remind our students that their bilingualism and their biculturalism is their superpower,” he said during the 2022 National Association for Bilingual Educators conference.
- Cardona on the Department of Education’s goals following the COVID-19 pandemic: “Let’s not just talk about honoring educators; let’s make sure they are treated with the respect and the dignity they deserve,” he said in a January 2022 speech. “This means a livable wage, it means ongoing professional learning and development, supportive working conditions and a work environment where their voices are welcome as critical partners in our work to improve education.”
- Cardona on LGBTQ+ students and students of color: “There is a toxic disrespect from demagogues who attack the safety and belonging of LGBTQI+ students and students of color, banning books and whitewashing our history,” he said in his 2023 address to the National Education Association Representative Assembly.
- Cardona on the normalization of disparities: “We all succeed when every group succeeds. However, we’ve normalized disparities in access and outcomes, especially between Black and brown students, and indigenous students, and we’ve normalized it. It’s business as usual. We need to maintain a sense of urgency,” he said in a September 2025 Latine Community Q&A session at the UConn Dodd Center for HumanRights.
- Cardona on one piece of advice he’d give to students today: “That we have more in common with each other than we have different from each other. We’re only here for a little bit of time, and you know, my lived experience tells me that the more you can do for others, the better you’re going to feel. So, if you could find commonalities, if you could find common ground, there’s a greater likelihood, you could do good — not only for your neighbor, but for the country,” he said in a September 2025 Latine Community Q&A session at the UConn Dodd Center for Human Rights.
Linda McMahon
Linda McMahon was appointed U.S. Secretary of Education by President Donald Trump and took office in March 2025. Her goals include refocusing education on “math, reading, science, and history—not divisive DEI programs and gender ideology,” giving parents more control over students’ education and ensuring postsecondary education provides a path to a well-paying career.
McMahon is also focused on dissolving her own agency, the Department of Education, to cede control of education to the state and local level. She has also aligned herself with Make America Great Again priorities around “school choice” that shifts public dollars to private schools.
McMahon was born in New Bern, North Carolina and graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in French.
McMahon had a career in business and entertainment as the co-founder and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. McMahon played a large role in growing the WWE with her husband, Vince McMahon, from an entertainment business to a global enterprise. The company was known for staging fake, soap opera-like wrestling matches and skits, some of which both McMahons participated in, portraying themes of adultery and violence. Trump attended the performances as a regular guest and frequently participated in the skits. Trump was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
McMahon left the WWE in 2009 and served on the Connecticut State Board of Education for a year. She also served from 2004–2017 on the Sacred Heart University Board of Trustees.
The Greenwich resident ran for U.S. Senate in 2010 and 2012, losing to Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, respectively.
McMahon is a longtime Trump ally and served in his cabinet as the administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019. She stepped down to serve as the chairperson of America First Action, a Pro-Trump super political action committee. McMahon also chaired the board for the conservative think tank America First Policy Institute.
McMahon in her own words
- McMahon on staff cuts at the federal Department of Education: “Today’s reduction in force reflects the Department of Education’s commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers,” she said in a March 2025 press release regarding the department’s cutbacks.
- McMahon when asked if teaching an African American studies course would violate the Trump administration’s DEI policies: “I do not think that African studies or Middle East studies or Chinese studies are part of DEI if they are taught as part of the total history package,” she said. “If you’re giving the facts on both sides, of course they’re not DEI.”
- McMahon on the federal government shutdown and the U.S. Department of Education: “Two weeks in, millions of American students are still going to school, teachers are getting paid, and schools are operating as normal. It confirms what the President has said: the federal Department of Education is unnecessary, and we should return education to the states,” she said in October 2025 on the social media platform X.
- McMahon on the importance of patriotic education: “In the American system, educated citizens who know their rights and embrace their responsibilities cooperate to build a more perfect Union,” she said. “It is imperative to promote an education system that teaches future generations honestly about America’s Founding principles, political institutions, and rich history. To truly understand American values, the tireless work it has taken to live up to them, and this country’s exceptional place in world history is the best way to inspire an informed patriotism and love of country,” she said in a September U.S. Department of Education press release.
- McMahon on the Trump administration’s goals to improve education and student opportunity: “We want to make education better for children. The president is an absolute proponent of school choice, and we are going to work very hard to make sure that children are not held prisoner in failing schools,” she said in March 2025 on Fox News.
This story was produced as part of the UConn Journalism project, “The Balance of Power.” Read/watch more at https://digitaljournalism.uconn.edu/balance-of-power
