FROM CLASSROOMS TO CAREERS: McMahon Tours Southern Nevada With Buck, Lombardo as Education Fight Heats Up

This time, the focus was education.

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon spent Wednesday touring Southern Nevada schools and workforce programs, beginning at Pinecrest Academy in Henderson before visiting the College of Southern Nevada alongside Gov. Joe Lombardo and State Sen. Carrie Buck.

The visit was part of McMahon’s official education tour highlighting K-12 performance, career education and the Trump administration’s push to give states and parents greater control over education. The Department of Education has made workforce preparation a central priority, including expanding career training, apprenticeships and shorter-term programs designed to connect students directly with high-demand jobs.

McMahon’s Nevada stop came one day after Johnson rallied hundreds of Republicans at the Meta Apex for Buck and O’Donnell.

At Pinecrest, McMahon visited classrooms, spoke with teachers and students, and toured a charter-school network with deep ties to Buck’s own education career.

Before entering the State Senate, Buck served as Pinecrest Academy of Nevada’s lead principal and executive director. Under her leadership, the network expanded from one struggling three-star school serving roughly 700 students in 2014 to four campuses and eight schools, all earning five-star ratings by 2018 and serving nearly 5,000 students, according to Buck’s Milken Educator profile.

That turnaround was built around student performance data, common academic expectations and direct intervention when students fell behind. The Nevada Independent reported in 2018 that Pinecrest administrators under Buck’s leadership reshuffled teachers, adjusted schedules, expanded intervention time and emphasized accountability as the network pushed every campus toward five-star status.

McMahon later shifted from K-12 classrooms to workforce education at the College of Southern Nevada.

CSN’s workforce division partners with Southern Nevada employers and industries to develop training programs for students and workers seeking new skills, certifications and career advancement. Its offerings include apprenticeships, health care training, vocational education and other employer-driven programs.

The stop fit squarely with McMahon’s broader argument that postsecondary education should not automatically mean a traditional four-year degree. The Trump administration’s Workforce Pell program, for example, expands Pell eligibility to qualifying short-term programs that can prepare students for employment in as little as eight weeks.

But in an election year, even an official education tour quickly became political.

Rep. Dina Titus, who is being challenged by Buck in Nevada’s 1st Congressional District, repeatedly attacked the visit on social media.

“Sec. Linda McMahon is dismantling the Department of Education, while Carrie Buck is happy to accept her fundraising help,” Titus wrote. “Nevada students deserve an educator who puts their future ahead of political favors.”

McMahon has openly embraced dramatically reducing the federal department’s role and transferring greater authority to states and local communities, describing that restructuring as the department’s “final mission.”

NRCC spokesman Christian Martinez fired back at Titus, pointing to Buck’s record as an educator.

“@CarrieBuckforNV won a national teaching award by actually raising scores and fixing a failing school,” Martinez wrote. “You cash maxed-out checks from the same teacher unions that block school choice, and shield dead-end schools. You’re just their paid mascot.”

Buck received the Milken Educator Award in 2008 while serving as principal of C.T. Sewell Elementary School. Her Milken profile says reading proficiency at the school increased from 35 percent to 83 percent and math proficiency increased from 36 percent to 90 percent during her tenure.

For McMahon, Wednesday’s visit showcased two sides of the administration’s education agenda: classrooms focused on academic outcomes and workforce programs designed to move students from education directly into careers.

For Nevada’s 1st District, it also ensured education would remain firmly planted in the political fight between Buck and Titus with Election Day approaching.

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