Dive short:
- Fifteen Republican states Attorney General Is requesting the United States Department of Education Abandon attempts to reinstate regulations under Title IX, a federal law that prohibits gender-based discrimination in schools.
- T.The Department of Education is set to unveil its proposed rules this spring on how colleges should look at and punish potential sexual violence on campus. Top state attorneys, led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, argued in a letter The current regulations issued by former education secretary Betsy Davos on Tuesday protect students, set clear expectations for responses to sexual misconduct and should not be changed.
- Upcoming draft rules It is also known to protect Transgender students from Discrimination under Title IX. The attorney general wrote in his letter that he was ready to take legal action against such provisions.
Dive Insights:
A new Title IX rule will fulfill President Joe Biden’s campaign promise to overturn the Davos-era, setting up court-like hearings to assess sexual harassment cases. During this process, students accused of sexual violence and their accused may cross-examine each other through an advisor.
Lawyers and other critics who have survived sexual violence say the process is too cumbersome and hampers reporting.
Title IX systems were dismantled before the Davos rule. The Obama administration issued the guidelines in 2011 Which has brought new awareness to on-campus sexual violence. However, the guideline stuck to allegations that it pressured colleges to find students responsible for sexual misconduct.
The Biden administration has said it plans to issue a draft version of its rules this month. However, the Department of Education Scheduled meeting To discuss regulations until May, implies possible delays.
Fifteen Attorney Generals from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas should fully abide by the rules.
They wrote a letter to Catherine Lemon, who heads the Department of Education’s civil rights office, telling her that the current regulations “provide essential provisions to protect freedom of speech and academic freedom.”
Lawyers targeted Lamon’s track record, led by the OCR, during the Obama administration from 2013 to 2017. They wrote that he had contributed to “a constitutional and regulatory mess” in Title IX and that he should withdraw from the rule-making process.
“The OCR has not only given its thumbs up to the standards of justice under your leadership, it has become a biased institution,” they wrote. “The investigation was not an investigation into isolated allegations, but rather a school fishing operation in every aspect of the school’s judicial process and campus life.”
Laman Facing similar lines of criticism During his confirmation process, Republican senators at the time said his work under the Obama administration should disqualify him from returning as head of the OCR. Laman Said in his early term In the OCR that he will withdraw federal funds to organizations violating Title IX, Although it did not happen in the end.
The Department of Education said in a statement on Wednesday that it was “committed to ensuring that schools provide a non-discriminatory learning environment, a goal we hope all educators and leaders will share.”
It did not respond to a request for comment from Lhamon.
The attorney general further noted that a new Title IX rule to protect the identities of transgender students would conflict with their state law. Several states, Including Montana And TexasLaws have been passed banning transgender athletes from competing in sports that match their gender identity.
The Attorney General wrote, “We are ready to take legal action to maintain the simple meaning of Title IX and to protect the integrity of women’s sports.”
