US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon continued her ‘Returning Education to the States’ national tour with stops in North Dakota and Colorado, emphasizing expanded school choice and federal Ed-Flex waivers now covering 25 states. The tour is the operational face of the administration’s education policy: reducing the federal Education Department role, increasing state flexibility over federal education dollars, and expanding school choice mechanisms.
WHAT ED-FLEX WAIVERS ACTUALLY DO
▸ Ed-Flex waivers: allow states to waive certain federal education law requirements in exchange for flexibility in how federal education funds are used; they are authorized under the Education Flexibility Partnership Act
▸ 25 states: current Ed-Flex coverage; 25 states can now use certain federal education funds with fewer federal strings attached
▸ School choice emphasis: the tour promotes charter schools, education savings accounts, and voucher programs as the preferred model for states to adopt with their new flexibility
THE CONTEXT
McMahon’s tour arrives in a specific policy environment: Texas’s push for greater Head Start control (documented earlier in the production run) is the parallel state-federal education authority conflict; the national uninsured rate increase (ONYX August 24 Section A Story 3) affects the family economic stability that educational outcomes depend on; and the administration’s broader federal-to-state devolution policy applies equally to education, healthcare, and environmental regulation.
The education secretary is offering 25 states fewer federal strings on federal money. What states do with that flexibility will determine whether the offer improves or worsens educational outcomes for children who don’t have the option of choosing a different school.
| CONFIDENCE: HIGH | McMahon Returning Education to States tour North Dakota and Colorado stops, 25 states Ed-Flex coverage are from confirmed reporting. |
SOURCES
▸ Confirmed reporting — Linda McMahon education states tour school choice Ed-Flex, August 30, 2026
