Amid a flurry of civil rights and Title IX investigations, the Trump administration has reopened K-12 schools and universities, signaling a complete 180-degree shift in the interpretation of the mandates. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The Trump administration is fighting schools over transgender athletes, bans on Native American mascots and Chicago\u2019s \u201cBlack Students Success Plans.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
The switch from the previous administration has caused whiplash for schools, with advocates warning students some complaints may not be worth pursuing. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Trump Administration has created dumpsters for so-called civil rights violations that are distractingly unresponsive to actual acts of violence, harassment, discrimination and abuse in our nation\u2019s educational institutions,\u201d says Shaun Harper, a professor of education, public policy and business at the University of Southern California.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is painfully apparent that destructive politicized attacks on DEI are far more important to them than are efforts to ensure the actual civil rights of American students, families and educators,\u201d he added, referring to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The most drastic change has been in the handling of cases involving transgender athletes. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The Biden administration notably moved to add protections for LGBTQ individuals to Title IX, a civil rights law that protects students against sex-based discrimination. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Former President Biden also proposed protections for transgender students<\/a>, such as forbidding overarching bans on transgender women in girls’ sports, but withdrew the proposal before President Trump took office, so the new president could not take the provision and alter it. \u00a0<\/p>\n Under the Trump administration, dozens of schools have come under fire with alleged Title IX violations over transgender athletes.\u00a0<\/p>\n The biggest threat occurred against California after the Trump administration said it would pull federal funding from the state following a transgender high school track and field\u00a0athlete qualifying to compete in the state championship. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s definitely been tough to have students come to us who are considering filing an Office of Civil Rights [OCR] complaint because they’ve experienced discrimination at their school, and have to sort of say,\u00a0\u2018I’m not even sure if it’s a good idea at this moment,\u2019 given the way that the Trump administration is enforcing Title IX,\u201d said Emma Grasso Levine, senior manager of Title IX policy and programs at the Title IX advocacy project\u00a0Know Your IX.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHaving OCR suddenly stop being an option for many students because of the discriminatory way that the Trump administration is operating … really does limit mechanisms for accountability to ensure that schools are handling Title IX cases and preventing sex-based harassment,\u201d she added. \u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement to The Hill, Department of Education spokesperson Julie Hartman said the Trump administration is “restoring civil rights law and reversing the damage inflicted by the Biden Administration, which stretched the scope of federal anti-discrimination law beyond its statutory purview.”<\/p>\n Hartman added, “By enforcing the law as it is written, the Trump Administration\u2019s OCR is using its personnel and resources responsibly to protect all Americans and eliminating wasteful and unfounded investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n While the Trump administration has been vague in its definition of what DEI initiatives are at schools, the civil rights investigations the Education Department is opening give a glimpse at its meaning. \u00a0<\/p>\n Chicago Public Schools is currently under investigation over \u201cBlack Students Success Plans\u201d the district made, without making similar plans<\/a> for students of other ethnicities. \u00a0<\/p>\n