By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration said on Monday it was terminating resolution agreements backing transgender students that prior administrations had reached with some school districts.
The U.S. Education Department said it was terminating six resolution agreements reached through what it called the manipulation of Title IX. The Title IX civil-rights statute bars the denial of benefits or discrimination in education “on the basis of sex.”
Since taking office, Trump has cracked down on schools and colleges with executive orders and threats to freeze federal funds over issues like transgender rights, climate programs, diversity initiatives and pro-Palestinian protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.
Transgender people in particular have faced increasing limitations as Trump has issued a series of executive actions targeting their rights and stated in a directive that the U.S. government will recognize only two sexes: male and female.
The Education Department said its Office for Civil Rights will no longer monitor or enforce deals reached with the Sacramento City Unified School District in California, the Cape Henlopen School District in Delaware, the Fife School District in Washington state, the Delaware Valley School District in Pennsylvania, the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District in California and Taft College in California.
The Sacramento City Unified School District said it remained “committed to the support of our LGBTQ+ students and staff.”
The La Mesa-Spring Valley School District said it was on spring break and anticipated no effect from the Department of Education’s move. It added that the resolution agreement had already been implemented and that, based on its understanding, it related to a case involving a gender non-conforming student at an elementary school.
The other school districts and Taft College did not respond to requests for comment.
The Education Department statement did not elaborate on the specifics of the terminations, which were reported earlier by the New York Times.
Those civil-rights settlements had aimed at ensuring the rights of transgender students to equal opportunity to an education, the newspaper reported.
“Today, the Trump Administration is removing the unnecessary and unlawful burdens that prior Administrations imposed on schools in its relentless pursuit of a radical transgender agenda,” Education Department official Kimberly Richey said.
Trump’s crackdown on transgender rights has been condemned by LGBT groups and human-rights advocates.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Christopher Cushing)
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