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Linda McMahon: “Mississippi went from 50 to like 34th, and then now they're…”

Featuring: Linda McMahon, Republican | Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education | National

Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75

Published October 1, 2025 | Video Starts at 55:04

Mississippi has, Iowa has. So many other states are adopting the science of reading, which gets back to teaching phonics, to teaching sounding out words. And we're seeing those scores. Really, Mississippi went from 50 to like 34th, and then now they're even higher. And. But these are innovative governors because the Department of Education does not establish curriculum. We don't hire teachers, we don't buy books, we don't do any of that. (55:04–55:10)

CLAIM

Asserts that Mississippi improved its ranking in education from 50th to 34th or higher.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Linda McMahon

“He showed me a ballot that had been mailed to him, and every Democrat box was checked, and at the top it said, only legal way to vote.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 08:18-08:30
“They took the title away from Leah Thomas and awarded it appropriately.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 34:07-34:12
“When only 30% of 8th graders can read proficiently, that means 70% cannot.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 54:28-54:35
“With almost 50 cents of every dollar that goes into a school is spent in regulatory compliance.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 59:29-59:37
“I ran for the US Senate in Connecticut. And I ran twice. I ran for the 9, 10 and then again for the 1112 races.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 01:16-01:22
“Both of the sitting senators at that time decided not to seek re-election. The first one was Kristad and the second one was Joe Lieberman.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 01:26-01:32
“I think I lost by 12 points both races.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 03:14-03:18
“We [have taken action against universities] like Columbia, like Brown, like UPenn.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 03:18-29:07
“We [are] not in any way limiting First Amendment rights.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 03:18-30:56
“During the time that I ran, I really elevated the Republican Party in the state and we really closed the gap in local representation.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 03:33-03:43
“Came very close to taking over the majority in the Senate, which was the state senate.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 03:43-03:51
“A lot of the town selectmen, which is like the mayor, and a lot of those offices are held by Republicans.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 04:59-05:09
“They will vote for Republicans to run their towns, to run school districts, et cetera.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 05:08-05:14
“When it comes to the federal voting, they just vote very heavily Democratic.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 05:13-05:18
“I don't have the numbers, you know, today, but I do think they continue to show that [by how they're voting locally].”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 06:54-06:59
“Rosa DeLauro, who has been up in the Hartford area, I forget which district, I think that's the fifth district.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 07:25-07:31
“Only legal way to vote. So they were actually told it was illegal to split votes like that.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 08:28-08:37
“That's been happening a while.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 08:56-08:58
“And he said, I'm making that a cabinet level position.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 11:14-11:19
“We co-signed on some loans for those [construction accounts] that went belly up, which eventually put us into bankruptcy.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 16:33-16:42
“My house was auctioned off, my car was repossessed in the driveway.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 16:56-17:01
“I was pregnant with Stephanie, our second child.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 17:00-17:04
“I spoke to [young conservative college students] earlier this week and I told the story.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 17:17-17:22
“I did a series at Sacred Heart University called Women can have It All.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 20:46-20:52
“Washington, D.C. is not that far from Connecticut.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 24:48-24:52
“I can be home on a plane in an hour.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 25:09-25:12
“I never missed an opening night for any of the school plays or that sort of thing. I missed one.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 25:41-25:47
“As a secretary, I have a security detail.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 27:54-27:57
“Our agreement that we came to with Columbia did in fact address those issues.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 30:43-30:51
“Schools should be returned to centers of learning and debate and discussion.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 31:03-31:09
“We've used hopefully the Columbia agreement as a template for other universities.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 32:03-32:09
“We got their attention big time. By stopping their funding.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 32:35-32:40
“If you are a university that receives federal funding, then you must abide by the laws of the United States.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 32:41-32:49
“We did that with Columbia. We also did that with Brown.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 33:50-33:57
“The University of Pennsylvania was really Title IX violation relative to Leah Thomas.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 33:56-34:03
“We've been able to make sure that the data being collected shows race and SAT and ACT scores.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 35:33-36:05
“Admissions are based on merit and not based on race.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 35:53-35:58
“Harvard is still outstanding [in negotiations].”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 36:53-36:55
“Harvard's response was a lawsuit, said that we were taking away their First Amendment rights.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 36:55-37:00
“They still have money that's being withheld, will continue to be withheld until that settlement is made.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 38:00-38:06
“Getting funding is not a right. It is a privilege for a university to be able to seek and compete for this funding.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 38:16-38:24
“Those universities right now that are not in compliance, they're awarding scholarships, et cetera.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 39:30-39:37
“The Supreme Court is actually going to determine if men are men and women are women or is there going to be some gender ideology.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 40:24-40:32
“We do have a pretty active Office of Civil Rights, as does Department of Justice, as does hhs, as does even the Department of Agriculture.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 41:12-41:22
“We have sent let's call dear colleague letters to universities across the country.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 42:19-42:25
“We have notified...many colleges and universities now that we are investigating that, we will be looking at their methods and practices.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 42:26-42:35
“We have the ability to monitor. That's another part of these agreements.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 43:27-43:32
“Columbia has now agreements with the New York Police Department, and also their security officers on campus have arrest rights.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 43:55-44:05
“Merit is how our students are admitted and how we give our promotions to the teachers and the professionals.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 44:59-45:08
“The SNAP program, the school lunch program with Department of Agriculture. But we are all working.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 46:00-46:07
“As the Department of Education...is looking to return education to the states.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 46:32-46:38
“We have signed a memo of understanding with the Department of Labor.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 47:12-47:16
“We are taking some of our funding to fund the work at Labor.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 47:20-47:26
“We want to find those places where some of the programs that are in education today move to other agencies where they...fit, more efficient…”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 48:41-48:57
“The big beautiful bill gave us more money and established, you know, through eca, you know, the different ways now that school choice can…”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 49:14-49:28
“I think There are about 37 states now that have some form of school choice, but more states now.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 49:31-49:39
“I think Iowa passed this year universal school choice.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 49:38-49:43
“It took Governor Reynolds two, two terms to get that done.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 49:44-49:51
“The president does not believe that any child should be trapped in a failing school, that they should have choice, their parents should have…”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 50:00-50:08
“The Department of Education does not establish curriculum. We don't hire teachers, we don't buy books, we don't do any of that.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 55:13-55:20
“In spite of the fact that we've spent all these trillions of dollars on education at the Department of Education, we've spent this much…”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 58:48-59:02
“Let's raise Teacher salaries, let's do all of these things and let teachers be creative and innovative in their classrooms.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 59:38-59:46
“Longevity seems to show that those people who are physically engaged not every time, but often live longer.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 1:01:16-1:01:25
“Kids in high school now can take courses from community college or if there is a four year college in their area that participates in these…”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 1:01:58-1:02:09
“Think of it is they're not paying for the course there because it is part of their public education system, but they have the credit when…”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 1:02:09-1:02:20
“Let's look at more certificate programs because you don't need four years for everything you're going to do.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 1:02:25-1:02:31
“It does take a congressional vote to close down a department.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 1:03:15-1:03:20
“Title 1 funding, the IDEA funding, which is for our students with special needs, that'll continue to flow.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 1:03:35-1:03:44
“That's been set up since, I think, 1965. That was in place before there was a Department of education in 1980.”
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon | Sage Steele Show | EP 75 | Uploaded October 1, 2025 | 1:03:43-1:03:51