The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, recently issued a Notice of Interpretation stating that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ+ students and employees in public schools, colleges, universities, and other recipients of Department funds. This would not necessarily be big news, because the United States Supreme Court recently recognized similar rights for employees under Title IX’s sister statute, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But it is news for schools. It’s the next chapter in OCR’s ever-changing position on this important question (from vigorous enforcement under the Obama administration to the Trump administration’s flip-flop in 2017 and subsequent clarification after Bostock in 2020). And although the information ED released answered some questions, many important questions remain.
Continue Reading Unanswered Questions on OCR’s About-Face on Transgender Rights

wish listIn recent weeks, I have been lucky enough to be involved in the conversation about what changes the Biden administration should make under Title IX. In addition to informal discussions with colleagues, administrators, and associations, Real Clear Investigations interviewed me for a recent piece. I discussed the pressure that many schools felt under the Obama administration as one reason the Biden team should not simply return us to the Title IX guidance of that era.

Most conversations, including the Real Clear Investigations interview and article, focus primarily on Title IX and higher education. To some extent, that makes sense. There are more Title IX incidents in higher ed. Colleges and universities have and dedicate more resources toward the process. The highest-profile cases of mishandled complaints are from the higher ed space.

But K-12 administrators have been working hard since May 6, 2020, to implement the new Title IX regulations. They are already feeling the real impacts of the new rules in the schoolhouse (whether in-person, hybrid, or virtual). I have trained thousands of administrators during the summer and fall and helped countless others write policies and respond to complaints under the new rules. I have heard time and again how much in the 2020 rules are not workable for K-12 schools. If K-12 administrators had a wish list for the Biden transition team regarding their genuine and unique concerns, what might it be? Here are the top three considerations as I see them.Continue Reading A K-12 Holiday Wish List for The Next “New” Title IX

Texas – road sign

We all know how important it is for responsible employees in educational institutions to report up the chain when they learn of sexual misconduct against a student. But the stakes for noncompliance just grew in Texas, where lawmakers recently passed legislation allowing jail time in addition to institutional penalties for responsible employees who fail to report as required by law. It seems like a good reason for a refresher on the rules for responsible employees and some tips for how to foster compliance at your institution, don’t you think?
Continue Reading Jail Time for Responsible Employees Under Title IX? In Texas, Maybe