Judiciary Blocks Biden’s Title IX Rule In Additional States
Another day, another court ruling against the Biden administration’s Title IX rule that bars discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in schools. Fourteen states and a hodgepodge of other locations must bar it, at least for now.
U.S. District Judge John Broomes issued a temporary injunction this month preventing it from taking effect in four states—Alaska, Kansas, Utah, and Wyoming. The rule also can’t take effect in any schools attended by members of the Young America’s Foundation and the children of members of Moms for Liberty—two national conservative groups that signed onto the lawsuit.
Last month, two other judges issued orders temporarily blocking the rule in Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The latest order leaves it to the Biden administration “to determine whether patchwork enforcement of the [Title IX] rule is feasible and worth the risk,” Broomes, a Trump appointee, said in his ruling.
Some 26 Republican-led states have sued the U.S. Department of Education and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona over the rule, arguing that its scope goes beyond the department’s authority and violates the principles of the landmark 1972 law that outlaws sex-based discrimination at all schools receiving federal funding.
The Title IX rule is set to take effect by Aug. 1 in locations without an injunction. In addition to explicitly prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, the rule rolls back Trump-era Title IX changes that allowed schools to use a stricter evidentiary standard when investigating sexual assault, harassment, and sex discrimination claims. And it grants schools more flexibility in the processes they use to investigate Title IX complaints.
The Education Department has appealed both of the earlier rulings against its Title IX revision and asked trial courts to allow portions of the rule that haven’t been the subject of legal challenges to take effect Aug. 1 as scheduled. Courts have yet to rule on that request.
Seven of the eight lawsuits argue that the Education Department’s revision also opens the door to inequality in school athletics by giving transgender girls access to girls’ sports, which the Education Department disputes.
Fed Up With Student Cellphone Use, States and Districts Are Restricting Access to the Devices
Enough already. The Los Angeles Unified School District is saying no more cellphones for students during the school day.
While the movement to restrict cellphones in classrooms has been gaining steam in districts and statehouses, Los Angeles Unified, with 429,000 students, becomes the largest district to adopt a full-fledged ban on phones in an effort to improve students’ learning and well-being.
“When coupled with social media, phones are a harmful vehicle that negatively impacts young people,” said Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.
The resolution passed by the school board requires the district to implement the policy by January. Details of the ban are still being worked out.
The ban will cover the entire school day.
“When I visit campuses during lunchtime, my heart breaks to see students sitting alone, isolated on their phones instead of engaging and learning with their peers,” said board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin. New York City schools are expected to adopt similar restrictions soon.
Many educators believe that cellphones, and the near constant access they provide to social media and messaging services, are a major—if not the driving—force behind students’ academic, behavioral, and mental health problems. However, research on the issue is still emerging and decidedly mixed.
If California were to pass some statewide restrictions on cellphones in schools, which Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for, it would join a small but growing number of states to do so.
Florida last year became the first state to ban cellphones in classrooms, and Indiana followed suit in April. Ohio passed a law in May that doesn’t outright ban cellphones but does require districts to set policies that will minimize student use. As many as eight other state legislatures have considered bills this past spring that would have prohibited students from using cellphones in class.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order last week to establish state guidance for local school systems. Utah’s governor has also expressed support for a school cellphone ban in his state.
NEA Staff Members’ Union Goes on Strike, Halting the Teachers’ Union’s Annual Meeting
Unusual occurrences aren’t uncommon at the National Education Association’s annual convention. But what happened at this year’s Representative Assembly may top the list.
The union’s staff members went on strike, effectively shutting down the gathering in Philadelphia. President Joe Biden, unwilling to cross the picket line, cancelled a planned appearance at the convention.
The abrupt conclusion of what is usually a four-day affair over the Fourth of July holiday kept the roughly 6,000 delegates from conducting its usual business.
Aware a strike could be imminent, NEA President Becky Pringle asked delegates to suspend the rules to vote by mail-in ballot on union elections, constitution and bylaw amendments, the strategic plan, and the budget.
Delegates voted on fewer than 10 of about 115 new business items submitted for debate before the strike shut down the assembly.
In perhaps their most significant decision, delegates approved a policy statement with recommendations on how educators should work with artificial intelligence. It urges educators to be involved in discussions about implementation in classrooms and, not surprisingly, emphasizes the centrality of humans for teaching.
Last year, the Representative Assembly was steeped in discussion of LGBTQ+ rights. New business items proposed this year showed the issue remains top of mind for educators.
Among other action, delegates approved a measure to add a section to the union’s website listing all NEA supports available to LGBTQ+ members.
In an open letter to delegates, Pringle acknowledged that “the desperate situation in Gaza and the rising anti-Semitism, anti-Arab hate, and anti-Muslim hate we are witnessing across our nation and globally” was weighing on educators and likely would factor into this year’s Representative Assembly.
It did: Protestors decrying the Israel-Hamas war gathered outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center the night before the assembly began, pushing educators to adopt a number of new business items that supported Palestinians. Counter protestors convened paces away, separated by police.
Religious Charter School Ruled Unconstitutional
It’s a no-go for a religious charter school in Oklahoma.
The state’s supreme court has ruled that the plan for a religious charter school that would receive public funds but be controlled by two Roman Catholic dioceses violated both the state and federal constitutions.
St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School was set to begin its contract on July 1 with 400 to 500 students and receive some $2.5 million in state aid in its first year.
“Although a public charter school, St. Isidore is an instrument of the Catholic church, operated by the Catholic church, and will further the evangelizing mission of the Catholic church in its educational programs,” Justice James R. Winchester wrote for the court’s majority.
The state’s highest court went on to hold that the religious charter school would be a “state actor” and not a private entity contracting with the state. And it would violate the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment prohibition on government establishment of religion.
“St. Isidore will fully incorporate Catholic teachings into every aspect of the school, including its curriculum and co-curricular activities,” Winchester said. “It will require students to spend time in religious instruction and activities, as well as permit state spending in direct support of the religious curriculum and activities within St. Isidore—all in violation of the establishment clause.”
The decision was a victory for Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican who had differed with his predecessor on the legality of a religious charter school.
“I hope that the people of Oklahoma can rejoice that they will not be compelled to fund radical religious schools that violate their faith,” said Drummond, who had warned that approval of St. Isidore might lead to all manner of religious charters, such as a Satanism school.
Florida’s Next School Target Might Be Climate Change
First, Florida told textbook publishers to excise all mentions of “critical race theory” if they wanted to sell their editions to the state’s schools.
Next came the prohibition on “social-emotional learning” and “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Now, it looks to be “climate change.” Textbook authors say the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has instructed them to ditch most references of the term, following a move to eradicate the concept from much of state law.
Textbook authors were told last month that some references to climate change must be removed from science books before they could be accepted for use in Florida’s public schools, according to two of those authors.
A high school biology book also had to add citations to back up statements that “human activity” caused climate change and cut a “political statement” urging governments to take action to stop climate change, said Ken Miller, the co-author of that textbook and a professor emeritus of biology at Brown University.
Both Miller and a second author told the Orlando Sentinel they learned of the state-directed changes from their publishers, who received phone calls in June from state officials.
According to Miller’s publisher, a 90-page section on climate change was removed from a high school chemistry textbook, and the phrase was removed from middle school science books, he said.
The other author said he was told Florida wanted publishers “to take out phrases such as climate change,” he said.
In May, DeSantis signed a bill that stripped the phrase “climate change” from much of Florida law. The bill did not address public education nor the state’s science standards.
The state education department last week posted the list of approved texts on its website—none for environmental science classes. “How do you write an environmental science book to appease people who are opposed to climate change?” asked a science educator.
