This morning, on the anniversary of the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce is discussing the Trump Department of Education’s civil rights record, including its decisions to rescind guidance that has helped schools accommodate transgender students.
The National Center for Transgender Equality has sent a letter to the committee to remind them of their duty to protect the equal treatment of all students as well as the failure of the Department of Education to uphold that key principle.
The letter challenges the Department’s “long list of attacks” on the rights of transgender students, including the rollback of crucial guidance meant to protect this vulnerable population. The National Center for Transgender Equality urges the committee to ”demand that the Department fulfill its vital mission of ensuring that all students have an opportunity to learn without discrimination and mistreatment.”
The full text of the letter can be found here.
Here is a statement from Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality on the need for the committee to take seriously its duty to protect students:
“Department of Education officials have abandoned their charge to ensure that all students have equal access to a quality education. The Department’s actions are thrown into sharp relief today, the anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision affirming that all students have the right to an equal education.
Instead of promoting policies that advance this goal, the Department is rescinding them, confusing school administrators, teachers, and families as to the rights of transgender students. We applaud those members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce who are continuing to draw attention to the Department of Education’s neglect of the nation’s students—particularly those who are most vulnerable to discrimination."
