NYC schools sue Education Department over nearly $50M in grant cuts due to transgender policies

"New York City Public Schools filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday over its move to cut $47 million in promised grants in response to the schools' policies regarding transgender students. The lawsuit asks for the reversal of the move to pull the grants. City officials said the federal agency stripped funding without the required notice or hearing, after it concluded that school policies allowing transgender students to participate on sports teams and use bathrooms matching their gender identity rather than biological sex violate Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education."

"Under the policies, "male students who identify as female or transgender are given unqualified access to female intimate spaces," Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the agency, said in a letter. Several other school districts, including in Chicago and Fairfax County, Virginia, received similar letters. New York City school officials affirm that they are fully compliant with Title IX and that the federal department's "novel interpretation" contradicts state and city laws against sex-based discrimination."

""U.S. DOE's threat to cut off tens of millions of dollars in magnet funding unless we canceled our protections for transgender and gender expansive students is contrary to federal, state, and local law and, just as importantly, our values as New York City Public Schools," Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said in a news release. An Education Department spokesperson said the agency "sees no merit in this lawsuit.""

New York City Public Schools filed suit to overturn a federal decision to cut $47 million in promised magnet school grants tied to transgender-inclusive policies. City officials allege the Department of Education stripped funding without required notice or hearing after concluding policies allowing transgender students to join sports teams and use bathrooms matching their gender identity violate Title IX. The Department gave a Sept. 23 deadline to amend policies or lose funding for 19 specialty magnet schools. Several other districts received similar notices. City officials state compliance with Title IX and say the department's interpretation conflicts with state and local law. The Education Department said it sees no merit in the lawsuit.

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