Education Dept rescinds six OCR settlements with school districts supporting transgender students

The Department of Education announced Monday that its Civil Rights division is rescinding portions of resolution agreements that were made by previous administrations regarding transgender students.

The department argued that the settlements had no "legal basis" and were driven by an ideological interpretation of Title IX by protecting students on the basis of "gender identity" rather than biological sex. 

The changes impact six settlements that the Obama and Biden administrations reached with school districts in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Washington state, and two school districts and a community college in California.

“Today, the Trump Administration is removing the unnecessary and unlawful burdens that prior Administrations imposed on schools in its relentless pursuit of a radical transgender agenda," Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a statement. "While previous Administrations launched Title IX investigations based on ‘misgendering,’ the Trump Administration is investigating allegations of girls and women being injured by men on their sports team or feeling violated by men in their intimate spaces.

“Today is yet another demonstration of the Trump Administration’s commitment to uphold the law, protect our students, and restore common sense," she continued. "No longer will the federal government force educational institutions to violate the law or punish them for upholding it.” 

Several school officials told the New York Times that they had either not heard from the Education Department about the changes so far or were not interested in changing the agreement, though school boards will have to vote on potential changes. 

The department is also looking to terminate similar agreements with the Sacramento City Unified School District in California, the Cape Henlopen School District in Delaware and the Fife School District in Washington state.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.