New Letter to USDOE: Title IX Does Not Permit California’s Bait and Switch to Female Students
Shortly after California Justice Center and Defense of Freedom Institute filed our Title IX complaint against the California Department of Education and several school districts, the United States Department of Education (“Department”) issued a Letter of Finding of Noncompliance against the Maine Department of Education on grounds almost identical to those alleged in our complaint. Accordingly, we filed a supplemental authority letter with the Department.
In a nutshell, the Department determined that “Title IX simply does not permit the bait-and-switch of promising female student athletes a girls’ competition and a girls’ locker room while actually permitting males to participate in the activity or access the space.” Because the Maine Department of Education “elected to direct and advise [school districts] to allow boys and men to participate in sports programs and access intimate facilities designated for girls and women,” OCR concluded that the state educational authority did not comply with Title IX.
The Department’s letter states that as long as local school districts maintain policies or practices including “fail[ing] to provide girls with female-only intimate facilities,” they risk their federal funding under the requirements of Title IX.
California goes a step further than Maine by stating explicitly in Education Code section 221.5(f) that schools must permit “students to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.” Maine’s laws don’t explicitly require access to intimate facilities based on gender identity.
As explained in the Department’s letter, a recipient’s obligation to comply with Title IX is not obviated or alleviated by any state or local law. (See 34 CFR § 106.6(b)). Accordingly, Education Code section 221.5(f) must be amended to enable California school districts to comply with federal law.
Why Won’t California Comply With Title IX?
California’s Democrat-controlled Legislature and Department of Education will not relent on this issue, despite Governor Newsom describing males competing in women’s sports as “deeply unfair.” There are three avenues by which people are fighting to force California to comply: (1) Federal enforcement (via our Title IX complaint), (2) Legislation, and (3) Litigation.
Assemblyman Bill Essayli’s AB 844 would amend Education Code section 221.5(f) and enable districts to comply with Title IX. AB 844 is scheduled for a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Tourism on April 1. Comments in support and opposition to the bill may be submitted here.
There is also litigation pending against Ed Code 221.5(f) in the Central District of California, filed by Advocates for Faith and Freedom, which I explain here.
It should not be this difficult to restore basic principles of common sense and fairness to California schools.
Julie Hamill is an attorney and president of California Justice Center. She is the founder of Alliance of Los Angeles County Parents and a Palos Verde Peninsula Unified School Board Trustee.
This post originally appeared on the California Justice Center.