EDUCATION
FEDS’ STANCE ON GENDER ISSUES LEAVES MANY SCHOOLS STUCK BETWEEN A ROCK AND HARD PLACE School communities across the country are concerned about the threat to their federal funding given the administration’s interpretation of Title IX (backed by a “Gender Ideology” executive order), which conflicts with many schools’ internal policies and some state law protections. Trump also issued a far-reaching order focused on DEI initiatives affecting all private employers — which includes all private K-12 schools, not just those receiving federal financial assistance. Read more about the new cross-agency Title IX Special Investigations Team, ways to preserve your school’s federal funding, and specific steps for K-12 schools. MAJOR IMMIGRATION POLICY SHIFTS CREATE NEW CHALLENGES The Trump administration’s aggressive stance on immigration is significantly impacting K-12 schools and institutes of higher education. In addition to calling for mass deportation, the administration has cleared Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to conduct operations on school grounds and has relied on a rarely used provision of federal law to revoke student visas. Read more about ICE on school campuses and a judge’s refusal to halt these new policy directives, and check out our immigration enforcement FAQs for K-12 schools.
Predictions for Next 100 Days... and Beyond
TRUMP RELEASES FLURRY OF EDUCATION- RELATED EXECUTIVE ORDERS Trump issued seven new educated-related executive orders on April 23 that impact both higher education and K-12 schools and touch on a wide range of topics, from
NEW TITLE VI ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS CREATES MORE CONCERNS FOR FEDERALLY FUNDED SCHOOLS The Department of Education’s (DOE) February 14 “Dear Colleague” letter created confusion for many schools across the country regarding Title VI compliance, especially regarding diversity-related activities. One month later, the DOE’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it will be investigating more than 50 higher ed institutions to determine whether they violated the federal law by making race-based decisions in their graduate and scholarship programs. Read more about the DOE’s new era of Title VI discrimination enforcement and the OCR’s race-based investigations into higher ed institutions.
• Uncertainty in immigration enforcement will persist, and the lawsuit over ICE enforcement activity at “sensitive” locations like schools and places of worship may not reach a final disposition for months. • The Department of Justice will take enforcement actions against some higher education institutions that are currently under investigation for policies related to gender identity and Title IX compliance. • The federal government will continue to sharpen its focus on race-based outreach and recruitment efforts, race-segregated programs, and race- based scholarship activities.
DEI to discipline to AI. Read more about these executive orders here.
Kristin L. Smith Partner and Co-Chair, Education Industry Group Houston / Minneapolis klsmith@fisherphillips.com
Jennifer B. Carroll Partner and Co-Chair, Education Industry Group Fort Lauderdale jcarroll@fisherphillips.com
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