The U.S. Department of Education just cut nearly 50 percent of its employees. Secretary Linda McMahon says Tennessee will receive more money because of it.

National Education Association President Becky Pringle blasted the cuts as a move to reduce resources for students on her BlueSky social media page.¶

“Firing—without cause—nearly half of the Department of Education staff means the Trump administration is getting rid of the dedicated public servants who help ensure our nation’s students have access to the programs and resources to keep class sizes down and expand learning opportunities,” wrote Pringle.¶

McMahon’s appointment to lead the U.S. Department of Education has faced criticism from the beginning, in part due to her perceived lack of experience in education. Though McMahon has served on the Connecticut Board of Education and as a member of the Board of Trustees at Sacred Heart University, she is better known for her business career co-founding the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and serving the prior Trump administration as the Administrator of the Small Business Administration.¶

Tuesday’s interview with Laura Ingraham may provide McMahon’s opponents with more ammunition to question her qualifications. When asked what the acronym for IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) stood for, McMahon struggled to answer, despite her own department spending more than $15 billion on it, including more than $300 million in Tennessee.¶

“Do you know what, I’m not sure I can tell you exactly what it stands for except it’s the programs for disabled and needs.,” said McMahon. “This is my fifth day on the job and I’m really trying to learn them very quickly.”¶

McMahon’s appointment has also faced criticism because President Trump himself has said he wants her to ultimately eliminate the U.S. Department of Education.¶

Dismantling the department would take an act of Congress and under its current makeup, support from Democrats who strongly oppose such a move. McMahon said eliminating the department she now leads remains the long-term goal and the cuts this week are first step to doing so.¶

“That was the President’s mandate. His directive to me clearly is to shut down the Department of Education, which we know we’ll have to work with Congress to get that accomplished. But what we did today was to take the first step of eliminating what I think is bureaucratic bloat,” said McMahon. “We wanted to make sure that we kept all of the right people, the good people, to make sure that the outward facing programs, the grants, the appropriations that come from Congress, all of that are being met and none of that is going to fall through the cracks.”¶