Rep. Summer Lee Calls Out Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality in Education Secretary McMahon Hearing

May 14, 2026 Press Release ( VIDEO ) WASHINGTON, D.C. – MAY 14, 2026 — Today, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) questioned U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon during a House Committee on Education and Workforce hearing titled “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Department of Education.” Lee pressed Secretary McMahon on the impact of federal education policy on Black students, underserved communities, and the Department’s responsibility to uphold educational equity and civil rights. During the hearing, Rep. Lee challenged Secretary McMahon’s responses on educational equity, emphasizing that acknowledging how students should be treated is not the same as ensuring they are treated equally in practice. “I asked specifically about Black children, because vague promises about equality are not enough when our kids are being failed in real time,” said Rep. Lee. “Saying all children should be treated equally is not an answer when we know that is not the reality. The Secretary of Education’s job is to confront those inequities, protect students’ civil rights, and make sure every child has access to the education they are constitutionally entitled to. That gap is not hypothetical, and neither is her responsibility to close it.” Rep. Lee also raised concerns about the administration’s ongoing efforts to dismantle the Department of Education, including proposed budget cuts and the consolidation of critical programs into block grants that would leave states with fewer resources and less accountability. Under the proposed FY27 budget, Pennsylvania stands to lose approximately $265 million in federal education funding. Rep. Lee’s district alone could lose $13 million, threatening programs that help students experiencing homelessness, support English language learners and children of migrant farmworkers, promote school desegregation and civil rights compliance, fund career and technical education, train and develop teachers and school leaders, support before- and after-school enrichment, arts, STEM, mental health, and school safety programs, and maintain statewide student testing systems. Lee warned that shifting responsibility to states without sufficient oversight or funding risks deepening existing inequities, particularly for Black students, students with disabilities, and other marginalized groups. She noted that states moving to disenfranchise Black voters cannot be trusted to prioritize marginalized students without strong federal oversight, accountability, and funding. Throughout the hearing, Rep. Lee pressed Secretary McMahon on whether she had taken steps to better understand key moments in U.S. history, including the Tulsa Race Massacre and school segregation, after previously indicating she would “look into it” during their first exchange, when she admitted being unfamiliar with the topics. To view the full exchange, please click here . Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, she has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.7 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs.  Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 4,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.