Rep. Courtney Grills Education Secretary McMahon on Ludicrous Cuts in President Trump’s Budget Request

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, at the House Education and Workforce Committee Hearing on President Trump's FY26 budget request, Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-02), a senior member of the Committee, grilled U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon on budget cuts to magnet schools, workforce development funding, and adult education. These cuts work against President Trump's own stated goals of expanding school choice and our nation's skilled workforce.

President Trump and Secretary McMahon have set a goal of expanding school choice, but the President's budget request zeros out Education Department funding for magnet schools, which are consistently among the top performing public schools. U.S. News and World reportranked Groton's Marine Science Magnet High School as a top 3 high school in the state of Connecticut.

"Secretary McMahon, in your opening remarks, you focused on the need for giving parents and families the choice in terms of their children's education. And sure enough, in your skinny budget, the line item for charter schools was up, which I guess is consistent with those remarks. However, you zeroed out magnet schools in the skinny budget.

"We both come from Connecticut. U.S. News and World Report did their annual ranking of high schools in the state of Connecticut. The number one high school in the state of Connecticut is a magnet school in East Hartford, the Connecticut IB Academy. The number three high school in terms of quality in the state of Connecticut is the Marine Science Magnet School in Groton, Connecticut, which I have the honor of representing. There is not a charter school in the top 50," said Courtney.

President Trump has also pledged to rebuild America's manufacturing workforce and has proposeda new program called Make America Skilled Again, yet the President's budget request provides zero increase to the Perkins Grant program, which empowers high school students to skill up for careers in critical manufacturing sectors.

"I want to move on to the Perkins program, which again is very important in the state of Connecticut. I was at a graduation ceremony on Wednesday, in Groton, where 170 high schoolers were given job offers by Electric Boat Shipyard because of Perkins Grants funded programs both in tech schools and comprehensive high schools in welding, metal trades. The hype from this administration is that they're going to support trade schools. But looking at your budget, it's a zero increase in the Perkins line item.

"In terms of meeting the moment of job openings - which you mentioned in your opening remarks and certainly we have huge job openings, in southeastern Connecticut - this budget does not match the rhetoric in terms of trade schools or the trades," said Courtney.

Rep. Courtney closed by calling out the President's budget request zero out of funding for the Adult Education and Literacy programs, which provide adults with a second chance of completing high school education and help immigrants on a pathway to citizenship.

"I also would just note in closing, the adult education line item was zeroed out, which is just stunning. I mean, this is a program that allows adult learners to get a second chance in life because some people who didn't complete high school on time, and also immigrants who, again, want to get the literacy skills so that they can get naturalized as citizens.

"I was invited to speak at an adult education graduation ceremony in Vernon, Friday night. And I, again, it's pretty sad to be able to bring news from Washington that the Secretary of Education doesn't support adult education," said Courtney.

With a strong manufacturing sector in Connecticut's Second District, Rep. Courtney has worked for years to expand Education Department funding for adult education and apprenticeship programs. He has also led the push to reinvest in WIOA to ensure workers have the skills they need and employers have access to highly-qualified candidates.

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