By all accounts, Linda McMahon is a shrewd, bold, and intelligent woman with a successful career in an industry dominated by men and rough-and-tumble men.

She also has a political career. from her run for the senate The Trump administration’s nominee for education secretary has been hailed by friends and foes alike for her leadership style and affability for her Washington job as head of the Small Business Administration, a state underdog where only name-brand names, or Democrats, are required to apply. I was praising him. The proverbial world of education has a lot to offer.

As someone who has worked in education for more than 30 years and is a strong advocate for students to have every opportunity to shape their own education, she shares her strong focus on connecting education and the workforce. I’m glad to know.

Private meetings with senators last week at the Capitol focused on just that general area, including the role of community colleges and technical schools in job training and workforce development, officials said. .

Her judgment is correct. The American higher education system is broken in every way.

few 65% or more Only 33 percent of people who start a four-year degree graduate in six years. Only 43% of the 4.5 million students enrolled in two-year university programs (once considered an important route to career training) in 2022 Finished. These are some of the reasons why student loan debt in the United States is increasing. $1.7 trillion!

However, the higher education system is only partly responsible for these deficiencies. The field of workforce development, including the role played by businesses, also shares responsibility. McMahon needs a much deeper education in the field than his predecessors, lest he accidentally fall prey to the same monolithic, overfunded “business” that leads so many students to failure. It’s for a reason. There is a lack of critical training for the current and future workforce.

A book could be written about this, but some lessons encapsulate the challenges ahead, lessons that we know she can win before the round is over. Mike Rowe’s popularity is dirty work That being said, American students need a good education, no matter what field they go into.

Plumbers may be the least respected and most wanted profession on the planet, but they still need and want to learn math, science, history, and literature.

Imagine how many more people would go into industry if they were recognized for their intelligence and ability to manage and lead a variety of elective fields during middle school and high school.

The real question is, “Why not both?” Why not give students credit for passed coursework in the traditional sense, in addition to work and work experience? Not only does it require no federal accreditation standards (which are also largely broken) and is the equivalent of a re-education of an Ivy League degree, but is also relevant to economic and business needs and recognized as equally valid. Why not create an entirely new category of certification? ?

reason? This would require a complete overhaul of K-12 education, something the U.S. public education system currently does not have the capacity to do. There is no doubt that it is a difficult job. But whether it’s a well-meaning President-elect Donald Trump or Linda McMahon, we can’t talk about workforce development without talking about transforming K-12 education.

Over the past four years, we have invested $50 million in the nation’s best education providers. Over the past 30 years of working in the policy field, we have learned more from these 200+ education providers than from any other initiative. Flexibility facilitates the creation of a variety of successful teaching approaches for students. Unless we untether K-12 from traditional top-down funding models, we will never have the kind of entrepreneurial innovation that prepares young students to participate productively in a growing world. .

McMahon can start that change from day one by shifting the paradigm. We can eradicate the outdated notion that school districts are and should continue to be the center of federal, state, and local funding, and refocus all federal funding on students, regardless of category or title. . code. It will ripple through states and communities, and we will see dramatic changes in the way schools are developed, organized, and what they produce.

Everything is connected, including elementary and junior high schools, the workforce, and daily life. Unless our elected officials have the courage to break free from the burdens of the status quo and overturn the system, they will stand idle and miss out on this important opportunity to transform America’s education and workforce. .

Jeanne Allen is the founder and CEO of. Educational Reform Center.

Linda McMahon is Chair of the Daily Caller News Foundation’s Advisory Board.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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