Undeniably Unentitled

President Biden’s education initiatives have been not only intrusive but also disastrous. Billions have been wasted on student debt relief, and $190 billion has been squandered on the so-called American Rescue Plan. He wants free lunches for rich kids and has appointed a useless book-ban czar. And now the president has introduced a new version of Title IX, which will go into effect on Aug. 1.

The original Title IX, enacted in 1972, was meant to ensure equal educational and athletic opportunities for all students regardless of their sex and to protect the rights of girls and women. However, on April 19, the Biden administration updated and degraded the rules. As detailed in a Moms for Liberty fact sheet, Title IX now requires that:

• Schools treat students who suffer, or claim to suffer, from gender dysphoria as though they were the opposite sex.
• Male students who identify as female must be allowed access to facilities designated for females, such as bathrooms and locker rooms, and be allowed to participate in women’s sports and organizations.
• Teachers and students must refer to a gender dysphoric child by their preferred pronouns and alternative name.
• No formal documentation is required to affirm gender identity.
• When a female student opposes having a male on a team or in an organization intended only for women or feels uncomfortable sharing a locker room with a male, the female in opposition may now incur not only social stigma but also the possibility of legal repercussions for her school, team, or organization.

Also, while Title IX does not strictly require the transitioning process to be kept secret from parents, in the event of a conflict between Title IX and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), keywords like “sex-based harassment” and “hostile environment sex-based harassment” override FERPA, thus opening the door to concealing the transitioning process.

Not surprisingly, as of now, 15 states—mostly the red variety—are suing over the ugly and overreaching directives. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asserted, “Florida rejects Joe Biden’s attempt to rewrite Title IX. We will not comply, and we will fight back. We are not going to let Joe Biden try to inject men into women’s activities … undermine the rights of parents and … abuse his constitutional authority to try to impose these policies on us here in Florida.”

Oklahoma’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters has told the state’s schools not to comply, saying, “Biden’s re-write of Title IX is one of the most illegal and radical moves we have ever seen from the Federal Government. Oklahoma will not sit idly by while radicals trample on the Constitution and take away women’s rights. We are taking swift and aggressive action against Biden in his war on women.”

In Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Sanders has ordered her state to follow state law, which contradicts the new interpretation of Title IX. “The Biden administration’s facially absurd redefinition of sex in Title IX turns back the clock on women’s opportunities, erodes student privacy, threatens women’s sports, and erases women. The Biden administration redefines ‘sex’ to fit its own absurd political ideology—not science—and imposes it on women, girls, and children.”

Sanders adds that the Biden administration has “rejected reality and chosen to appease their left-wing base over students’ safety and best interests.”

What are the consequences for states that defy the federal decree?

The ultimate penalty for non-compliance with Title IX regulations is the “withdrawal of federal funds.”

One state that will certainly comply with the ugly new mandates is California, where sex-related curricula—more than reading, math, or civics—are the dominant subjects.

For example, one California high school now pays students to teach other students about sensitive sex education-related topics as part of a federally funded program that puts those without teaching credentials in charge. Berkeley High School pays students $8 an hour to educate their peers, “plus an extra $40 based on attendance.” According to the school’s student newspaper, discussing sensitive issues like polyamory and gender identity is typical.

On a similar note, State Senator Caroline Menjivar (D-Van Nuys) has introduced a bill to require public high schools to notify students where they can get free condoms on campus. The bill also mandates that junior high and senior high schools permit “community health partners,” like Planned Parenthood, to distribute condoms during sex education classes.

Menjivar’s bill also encourages schools to partner with non-profits, like Planned Parenthood or a condom manufacturer, to provide grants or donations of condoms for distribution in schools. Even worse, school boards will be prohibited from restricting condom distribution from their school-based health centers. Moreover, the bill prohibits retail stores from refusing to give condoms to minors of any age.

The state’s education department recommends books for young students that teach about expanded sexualities and gender identities. Julian Is a Mermaid, for example, is deemed appropriate for preschoolers and kindergarteners. It describes a young boy who wants to be a sea-dwelling creature after seeing a parade of people dressed up as mermaids while out with his grandmother. The boy puts on lipstick and makes himself a mermaid costume, and his grandmother gives him a beaded necklace to complete his outfit.

In some badly needed good news for California parents, Emmanuelle Soichet, a California Department of Justice attorney, admitted student privacy guidelines stemming from state legislation approved a decade ago were “non-enforceable.”

Upon learning of this major revelation, Assemblyman Bill Essayli (R-Norco) is urging school districts to nullify any policies regarding withholding information about students’ gender identity choices from parents.

On May 2, Essayli posted on X, “This admission in court that California Department of Education guidance to keep secrets from parents is unenforceable is a victory for parents and school board members who will not be intimated by empty lawsuits and threats. From day one, when we started our parental rights movement last year, we knew the law was clear, and there was no statute requiring schools to keep secrets from parents. That’s why I authored #AB1314 to affirmatively codify a parent’s right to know if schools are socially transitioning their child’s gender. I encourage every California school district to immediately repeal any secrecy policies that were implemented as a result of the unenforceable guidelines illegally issued by the Department of Education.”

The recently acknowledged rights of parents is a much-needed rejoinder to the sexually obsessed CA Attorney General Rob Bonta as well as many state legislators, notably Gov. Gavin Newsom, who outrageously announced at a press conference in August, “There is no state in America that supports local control and parental engagement like the state of California. No one comes close.”

While California leaders won’t push back against the new Title IX diktats, at least parents now have more power than before Soichet’s revelation. As for the rest of the country, the states must just say no to the current iteration of Title IX. If a state’s leaders disdain the new rules but are willing to put up with them because they want Title IX money, there is a five-letter word for them. It starts with W and rhymes with gore.

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Larry Sand, a retired 28-year classroom teacher, is the president of the non-profit California Teachers Empowerment Network – a non-partisan, non-political group dedicated to providing teachers and the general public with reliable and balanced information about professional affiliations and positions on educational issues. The views presented here are strictly his own.