What to Know
Things are already rough enough for educators in the United States without the Department of Education weighing in on teachers’ devotion to Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again message. Because that’s exactly what the department did when it posted a cartoon image on X (formerly Twitter), seemingly in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, and wrote that teachers are apparently dedicated to MAGA.
Excuse me, what is the unwarranted propaganda? That’s what it seems like, especially since the post was sort of out of left field. The Department of Education could have posted any number of images or sentiments to honor educators across the country. Instead, a choice was made to honor Trump.
The Department of Education used a character from ‘SpongeBob’ for its teacher post.
Teachers are dedicated. 📕 pic.twitter.com/HRyS0RtQVt
— U.S. Department of Education (@usedgov) May 6, 2026
The post features Mrs. Puff from the animated show SpongeBob SquarePants. She’s the closest thing the show has to a teacher since she’s a driving instructor. Maybe that was part of the reason she was chosen as the apparent teacher mascot of the X post.
In the picture, Mrs. Puff is holding a book that says MAGA. The post says, “Teachers are dedicated.” Yes, teachers are dedicated. They are dedicated to educating children despite cuts in funding. They are dedicated to teaching science and important literature despite pushback from the government. But dedicated to MAGA? That’s a little presumptuous, even for Trump.
And, again, why Mrs. Puff? Why SpongeBob SquarePants? Other people are wondering the same thing.
“Why the hell is the Department of Education using pictures of cartoon characters from SpongeBob SquarePants to promote their propaganda?” Someone commented on the X post. “Nickelodeon should sue them.”
“Using a notoriously awful teacher lmao,” another wrote. “Very on brand for MAGA.”
It’s true. Throughout the course of SpongeBob SquarePants, Mrs. Puff has failed SpongeBob in boating classes no less than 1 million times. So she might not be the best animated educator to use to push MAGA on people.
People called it out for being a joke of a department.
Teachers are mentors. pic.twitter.com/3j21Ks8mE7
— U.S. Department of Education (@usedgov) May 7, 2026
Because of the post, but possibly because of a myriad of other reasons, people responded to the X post from the Department of Education to call the entire department a joke. Not only is it run by Linda McMahon, former WWE executive and someone who has never been a teacher, but it has seen a voluntary shift in funding because of Trump.
“This is garbage and stupid,” an X user wrote on the platform about the Mrs. Puff picture. “The Department of Education has become a joke. This administration only wants the people of this country to grow up stupid.”
Another wrote, “This is a completely insane and unhinged thing to post. You couldn’t come up with ONE unifying message to say thank you to teachers? What the actual f–k is wrong with you losers?’
“Wow. That’s great,” a commenter added. “Can you give a quick summary of the things the DOE has done recently to support our many hard working and dedicated teachers?”
Trump’s plans to dismantle the Department of Education led to a lot of backlash.
In March 2025, Trump signed an executive order to cut funding to the Department of Education. According to the White House, the order is meant to give power back to the states. But, in doing so, it puts pressure on important programs and funding that educators depend on the government for. So are teachers actually “dedicated” to MAGA? That’s a little hard to believe.
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