This week, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon visited Hawaii on her Returning Education to the States Tour , her 49th state visit.
On Wednesday, Secretary McMahon began at Admiral Arthur W. Radford High School, exploring its classes before meeting with military students at the Student Transition Center. Next, she toured Mokapu Elementary School – the state’s only school on a Marine Corps base – and joined a Literacy & Military Education Roundtable focused on helping military children navigate frequent relocations and deployments.
Her tour continued at Keiki Roots, a nature-based homeschool enrichment co-op along Kāneʻohe Bay, where she explored outdoor learning spaces and read to the program’s young students. She concluded her tours on Wednesday with a visit to the University of Hawaii’s Institute of Marine Biology to see the Marine Science Research Learning Center and the Coral Resilience Laboratory.
To conclude the trip, Secretary McMahon today participated in a Returning Education to the States Roundtable with members of the Hawaii State Legislature and toured Ka Waihona o Ka Na’auao, a K-8 Hawaiian language immersion charter school.
“The 49th state tour stop in Hawaii highlighted the incredible work that happens when education is designed around a community’s specific geography and heritage. Whether it’s the specialized military support at Mokapu Elementary, the coral resilience research at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, or the deep cultural preservation at Ka Waihona o Ka Na’auao Hawaiian language immersion school, these uniquely tailored programs reinforce why Washington should never impose a one-size-fits-all model,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “States require the autonomy to innovate, and Hawaii is demonstrating that by building classrooms that honor its people and environment.”
Background:
On her Returning Education to the States Tour, Secretary McMahon is traveling to all 50 states to hear directly from teachers, parents, students, and community leaders about what is working in their communities and to compile a toolkit of best practices to share with states across the nation. Learn more about Secretary McMahon’s Returning Education to the States Tour here .