Education Secretary Linda McMahon is touting AI-run private schools and other alternatives to public education as she barnstorms the nation on a “Returning Education to the States” tour.
Ms. McMahon made Texas her latest stop on Tuesday, visiting Austin’s private Alpha School to observe artificial intelligence programs teaching personalized math, science, language, and reading lessons to students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
She later met with Carlos Carvalho, president of the private University of Austin, to discuss ways of teaching generative AI at the collegiate level.
“Harnessing AI thoughtfully will be critical to expanding opportunity and preparing students for tomorrow’s workforce,” Ms. McMahon said Wednesday in a statement. “During my visit to Austin, I saw how AI can open doors, but also how it is curiosity, critical thinking, and open debate that drive learning.”
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath praised her visit to the state capital and “the thoughtful discussion on the responsible use of innovation in schools.”
Since taking office in March, Ms. McMahon has used the tour as a bully pulpit to defend Trump administration efforts to promote school choice and downsize the Department of Education.
According to a map on the federal agency’s website, she had visited 15 states as of Wednesday. The trips ranged from a March stop at a Bronx charter school in New York to a Monday swing through Michigan.
The Michigan jaunt took her to private Hillsdale College, private Hillsdale Academy and the public charter school Pembroke Academy. She also held a private sit-down meeting with Detroit school district leaders at Renaissance High School.
Rep. Tim Walberg, the Michigan Republican who chairs the House Education and Workforce Committee, joined Ms. McMahon during the visit for a roundtable discussion on redirecting education funds to the state and local levels.
“I am glad to have an ally in the Department of Education like Secretary McMahon who understands the importance of returning education to the states while putting students, teachers, and families first,” Mr. Walberg said Wednesday in a statement.
Critics have accused Ms. McMahon of redirecting federal funds away from low-income students in public schools, which educate 90% of the nation’s children.
The National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s two largest teachers’ unions, have sued to block her from enforcing a March executive order to close the Education Department to the “maximum extent” allowable by law.
“These visits are nothing more than staged photo opportunities designed to sell policies that will hurt our students and our schools,” Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said in a statement on the Michigan visit.
The Education Department has moved to end diversity-based programs at public schools, slash billions of dollars in federal education funding earmarked for research grants and fire thousands of workers it considers nonessential to student learning outcomes.
In July, Ms. McMahon proposed making “the appropriate integration of AI into education” a federal funding priority for the first time as part of a sweeping White House push to dominate a burgeoning global technology race.
Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of the history of education at the University of Pennsylvania, noted that other executive orders have required “patriotic education” and cut off funding to schools that teach “divisive” race and gender issues.
“That restricts state control, even as the White House proclaims fealty to it,” Mr. Zimmerman said in an email. “And it’s certainly not consistent with a true marketplace of ideas, which can’t exist when the federal government is telling us what we can and can’t think.”
Reached for comment, an Education Department spokesperson referred The Washington Times to an Aug. 8 statement by Ms. McMahon pledging to learn from “best practices” as she tours all 50 states.
“I am eager to hear directly from students, educators, and local leaders about the bold ideas that can propel success, while also exploring how we can ensure every family has the freedom to choose the educational path that best fits their child’s needs,” Ms. McMahon said.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.