Federal News in Brief

Trump Administration Pulls Plug on Career-Tech-Ed Nominee

By Alyson Klein — November 14, 2017 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The Trump administration is yanking the nomination of Tim Kelly, a Michigan state representative who President Donald Trump tapped to lead the office of career, technical, and adult education at the U.S. Department of Education, after it surfaced that he was the author of a personal blog that made offensive statements about Muslims, Head Start parents, and federal efforts to recruit women into the sciences, a source said.

Sources said U. S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos made the decision when she was presented with the information. The blog should have been caught in the White House vetting process, one source said. And Kelly should have disclosed it with his application, but failed to do so, the source added.

Kelly, who had been scheduled for a Nov. 15 confirmation hearing before the Senate education committee, would have been tasked with implementing the $1.1 billion Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education program, the largest source of federal funding for high schools, as well as other initiatives.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the November 15, 2017 edition of Education Week as Trump Administration Pulls Plug On Career-Tech-Ed Nominee

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reflections on Evidence-Based Grading Practices: What We Learned for Next Year
Get real insights on evidence-based grading from K-12 leaders.
Content provided by Otus
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
Promoting Integrity and AI Readiness in High Schools
Learn how to update school academic integrity guidelines and prepare students for the age of AI.
Content provided by Turnitin
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
What Kids Are Reading in 2025: Closing Skill Gaps this Year
Join us to explore insights from new research on K–12 student reading—including the major impact of just 15 minutes of daily reading time.
Content provided by Renaissance

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal McMahon Says Schools With 'Gender Plans' Could Be Violating Federal Privacy Law
The U.S. Department of Education opened investigations under FERPA into two states, alleging violations of parents' rights.
5 min read
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 20, 2025.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 20, 2025. McMahon said that the U.S. Department of Education would make a "revitalized effort" to pursue federal student privacy law violations for parents' rights, asserting that school "gender plans" that aren't available to parents violate the federal law.
Ben Curtis
Federal Dramatic Cuts to Ed. Data Programs Will Have Far-Reaching Consequences, Researchers Warn
Education research organizations asked Congress to intervene in cuts to ed. data, research staff.
6 min read
Image of performance data analysis.
NicoElNino/iStock/Getty
Federal See Which Schools Trump's Education Department Is Investigating and Why
The agency has opened more than 80 investigations. Check out our map and table to review them.
2 min read
President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women's or girls' sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks at the White House on Feb. 5, 2025, before signing an executive order barring transgender females from competing in women's or girls' sports. Transgender athlete policies have been a common subject of investigations into schools, colleges, state education departments, and athletic associations by the U.S. Department of Education since Trump took office.
Alex Brandon/AP
Federal Opinion Federal Ed. Research Has Been Slashed. Here’s What We All Lose
The long-term costs to our students far outstrip any short-term taxpayer savings from the Trump cuts.
Stephen H. Davis
4 min read
Person sitting alone on hill looking at the horizon feeling sad, resting head in hand. Mourning the loss of education research data.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock/Getty Images