The federal Department of Education has announced that three major public school districts in New York, Chicago, and Fairfax County, Virginia, will lose a total of $24 million in federal funding for refusing to change their policies to support transgender students’ restroom use.
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the Department of Education, Craig Trainor, sent letters to the three school districts on September 16, demanding that they stop allowing students to use locker rooms and restrooms based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex, or else they would violate the Title IX of the Constitution. As the three districts did not agree to take “remedial measures” within the specified deadline, the Department of Education decided to decertify their civil rights compliance and subsequently withdrew the related grants.
According to the Department of Education, Fairfax County Public Schools will lose $3.4 million in funding; Chicago Public Schools will have $5.8 million deducted; and New York City Public Schools will face a substantial loss of $15 million.
Department of Education spokesperson, Julie Hartman, said, “The Department of Education will not endorse New York, Chicago, and Fairfax County because they openly discriminate against students based on race and gender. These are publicly funded schools, and parents have the right to expect quality education, not indoctrination under the guise of ‘inclusivity’.”
In addition to gender identity facilities, the Department of Education also required New York and Chicago Public Schools to publicly declare that they do not allow males to participate in female sports. Chicago was also asked to abolish a program providing learning resources specifically for black students, which Trainor deemed as “typical racial discrimination.” Failure to comply could lead to the loss of approximately $8 million in educational project funds.
The Chicago Board of Education responded by stating that federal authorities did not present any evidence of student harm, and the actions taken violate standard procedures.
The New York City Department of Education emphasized that a cut in funds would result in the cancellation of courses and reduction in extracurricular resources, ultimately harming students from vulnerable communities.
This issue has also spilled over into the New York City mayoral election. Incumbent Mayor Adams recently stated at a press conference that if policies “indeed allow boys and girls to use the same facilities simultaneously,” he would like to reexamine them. However, he stressed that he does not have the unilateral authority to change current policies as state human rights laws explicitly protect students’ rights to choose restrooms based on their gender identity.
Adams’s remarks were immediately criticized by Democratic mayoral candidate Mandani, who accused him of “completely contradicting the values of New York City.”
City spokesperson, Kayla Mamelak Altus, stated, “The federal government is using the withdrawal of education funding as a pressure tactic to force us to accept policies that we do not agree with. Regardless of whether the mayor fully agrees with individual regulations, we will defend resources and safeguard the educational rights of one million students citywide.”
Currently, the New York City government is exploring response strategies, including potential litigation.