MI School Scoop: Fallacies and Facts About Michigan Education

Sorry, Girls and Women, You’re More Vulnerable Under Trump

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 05:46:32 GMT

The Trump Administration is Downplaying Title IX Rollback Implications

The GOP and the Trump Administration proudly promise to protect girls and women, but unfortunately, these promises won’t be kept. As of January 9, 2025, America’s K-12 girls and college-aged women are more vulnerable than ever before due to the U.S. Supreme Court reinstating Trump’s 2020 Title IX Rules . Groups like Young America’s Foundation and Moms for Liberty filed lawsuits in the fall of 2024 to block Biden’s Title IX updates .

Trump’s constructed crisis surrounding transgender individuals is intentionally obscuring the implications of this decision for the general population. Many of the Moms for Liberty members applauding these actions don’t appear to realize that their campaigns against 1% of the nation’s population have undermined protections and opportunities for their children.

How Title IX Should Protect Girls and Women

Title IX is a federal civil rights law signed by Richard Nixon in 1972 to prevent sex-based discrimination, harassment, bullying, and violence. The Department of Education’s civil rights office oversees Title IX for federally funded K-12 schools and colleges.

The most important aspect is how Title IX defines harassment and sets forth the obligation for schools to investigate reports.

2020 Title IX Definition (Trump/DeVos)

Schools must address sexual harassment if it is so “severe” AND “pervasive” that it “effectively denies” a person equal access to a school program or activity.

The Trump Administration introduced severe restrictions to favor the accused within a cumbersome 2,033-page document. Victims must testify in front of the accused, and the incident(s) must have occurred on school grounds. Time Magazine wrote, the “New rule governing assault is nearly impossible for survivors to use.” ( TIME, May 14, 2020 )

2024 Title IX Definition (Biden)

Schools must address sex-based harassment if it is so “severe OR pervasive” that it “denies or limits” a person’s ability to participate in a school program or activity.

Victims are not required to testify before the accused, and the school is responsible for incident(s) under their purview, including study abroad programs.

Think about any of the thousands of incidents that can and do occur and ask which definition better protects girls and women:

Larry Nassar and the gymnasts of Michigan State University
A high school girl sexually assaulted once (not pervasively) by a classmate while studying in Spain
A six-year-old elementary school girl who is inappropriately touched by a peer
A collegiate athlete who receives inappropriate texts from her trainer
Even Riley Gaines in a locker room with Lia Thomas

Could anyone prove that these traumas effectively denied equal access to a school or program? Read the complete comparison between the 2020 and 2024 rules created by the National Women's Law Center .

How Title IX Protections Fell Through Women’s Hands

Many administrations, including Presidents Obama and Trump, have updated Title IX. President Biden aimed to restore protections for all harassment victims and enhance support for girls and women. His proposed changes reflected two years and tens of thousands of public comments. Moms for Liberty , backed by The Heritage Foundation and co-author of Project 2025, didn't care to hear any of it and took immediate legal action. (Many of their students attend private religious schools or home schools and are unaffected by Title IX.)

As a civil rights office, the Department of Education is burdensome for private religious schools that must adhere to Title IX if they opt in to any federal funding. Known for widespread discrimination and laws that prohibit public funds for private religious schools, it's best for them to keep Title IX as narrow as possible or dismantle the Department altogether.

Notably, Biden's 2024 Title IX Rules did not yet include guidance for women’s sports. Capitol Hill testimony in December 2024 sought to uncover the influence of 10 NCAA transgender athletes and other considerations. Those ongoing testimonies were cut short with the sweeping bans that muted all conversations about women's sports.

Before Biden left office, the Supreme Court restored Trump’s full 2020 rules, erasing years of testimonies and brave storytelling by thousands of girls and women. The decision didn’t just address transgender people; it tossed the definitions that gave families more protection and accountability with their schools.

Perpetuating manufactured culture war crises is precisely how the Trump Administration distracts its voters and draws their inadvertent support for policies that hurt them. Girls and women will be paying the price (for billionaires and privatizers to benefit) for years.

The Trump Administration's DEI Dear Colleague Letter Whitewashes History

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 20:18:55 GMT

Protect the history books; the whitewashing of America's history is well underway

Alarming propaganda and racist rhetoric filled a February 14 “ Dear Colleague ” Letter about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) authored by the nation’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights within the Department of Education.

The Department instructs K-12 schools and universities to drop what they claim are divisive and racist DEI programs that lie about our nation’s past and turn discrimination against white people.

Unfortunately, all this letter does is fan the flames of white Christian nationalist conspiracies about the Great Replacement Theory , perpetuate centuries of racism, and play the public as naïve.

Let’s unpack three of the most prominent examples:

Excerpt 1: Educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon “systemic and structural racism” and advanced discriminatory policies and practices.

The timeline of attacks on education by this administration, and the architects of Project 2025 within it, directly correlate with the systemic and structural racism that kept Black children out of white schools up until 1954. There are millions of living Americans who watched Ruby Bridges walk through a white schoolhouse door only 70 years ago. Millions more are still fighting to prevent taxpayer-funded discrimination and segregation through voucher and opportunity scholarship programs that give private religious schools the choice to decide who they teach.
In 2021, Business Insider detailed how Russ Vought and Citizens for Renewing America equipped suburban white women with playbooks to attack their school boards. He focused on critical race theory as a radical theology that will "socially replace" and lead to discrimination against white people. "In other words, because people of color were discriminated against in the past, white people, including children in schools, need to be discriminated against now in order to make up for it and let African Americans catch up. Telling white Christian suburban mothers to “fight for the survival of America” with these school and CRT/DEI attacks is truly making them fear being socially replaced by Black Americans, if not turned into slaves themselves.
The Department of Education chapter within Project 2025 begins, "For most of our history, the federal government played a minor role in education. Then, over a 14-month period beginning in 1964, Congress planted the seeds for what would become the U.S. Department of Education. In July of that year, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964, after Congress reached a consensus that the mistreatment of Black Americans was no longer tolerable and merited a federal response."
Since the Supreme Court ruled racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional (Brown v. Board), groups have campaigned in a variety of ways to practice segregation legally.
Using government funds for private religious schools was ruled illegal through The Blaine Amendment of 1970 because they regularly discriminate. In fact, cases chipping away at The Blaine Amendment are as recent as 2024, when the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and five families filed Hile v. Michigan. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal. These plaintiffs have direct ties to the Administration, anti-DEI/CRT campaigns, and school district-level attack groups.

Excerpt 2: "DEI programs stigmatize students who belong to a particular racial group based on crude racial stereotypes. Consequently, they deny students the ability to participate fully in the life of the school."

This administration favors privatization and private religious education. Most of their social media posts celebrate school choice, quote Moms for Liberty, or nod to the self-proclaimed mastermind of the manufactured CRT and DEI crisis, Christopher Rufo. These institutions are notorious for discriminating against applicants or sending students back to public schools, which is why universal voucher programs are illegal. That's just about the easiest way to deny students the ability to participate fully in the life of the school.
These parties are focused on dismantling the Department of Education because of the civil rights and anti-discrimination protections they oversee across our K12 schools and universities. Participation and access are keywords and defining lines for civil rights, and they are strategically sprinkled into these playbooks and orders.
It's easy to argue that fighting since 1954 to legalize taxpayer-funded segregation is what stigmatizes Black students, and the need to separate our schools created stereotypes. Stereotypes are precisely what private religious schools use to turn away diverse or LGBTQIA+ students and families, and why The Heritage Foundation is devoted to restoring a more traditional fabric of American society.
It's no coincidence that the Trump/DeVos Title IX rules of 2020 , which were restored in January, carefully narrowed the definition of harassment to apply only if the student was denied "equal access" to a school program or activity. That's a lot of bullying, harassment, or assault to endure, especially when you add in their requirement to cross-testify in front of the accused.
In a 2002 speech to The Heritage Foundation , Dick DeVos outlined his stealth strategy to make the battle for our schools seem like it was the idea of moms over coffee—which became their well-funded and race-centric astroturf group, Moms for Liberty. What we are witnessing today is the realization of this sneaky and calculated plan to implement highly unpopular policies while making it appear that this is what the public wants. Almost every election outcome regarding education suggests otherwise.

Excerpt 3: All students are entitled to a school environment free from discrimination.

Project 2025’s education chapter includes a chart showing downward performance trends. Notably, student performance declined under Trump’s first pro-privatization administration and the dark money attacks on public education.
Disparities between Black students and other learners classified by The Nation’s Report Card became more pronounced in 2015. At grade 4, the percentages of selected student groups performing at or above Proficient ranged from 18 percent for Black students to 57 percent for Asian students. At grade 8, the percentages at or above Proficient ranged from 16 percent for Black students to 54 percent for Asian students. America's marginalized students have been fighting a constant uphill battle for equitable education opportunities. These are also the students who will be hurt most by the Department of Education's dismantling.
Privatizers and white Christian nationalists object to the $1 billion spent on DEI programs. They ignore the $3.2 billion wasted in education funding that schools used to combat privatizers’ underhanded attacks last year alone. This is only further widening the achievement gaps for marginalized students.

A Disturbing Rewrite of American History Hangs Over Our Schools

After calling racism a false premise, the Trump Administration renamed the Gulf of Mexico with the strike of a pen and calls the change a "fact." What's to stop them from deleting any reference to Brown v. Board, segregation and slavery, celebrating their "alternative facts," and banning any news outlet that doesn't follow suit?

There are unfortunate examples of the racism this administration seeks to perpetuate throughout this Dear Colleague Letter, Project 2025, The Heritage Foundation 's website, the playbooks that Russ Vought and Moms for Liberty used to attack schools in 2021, and the boastful responsibility Christopher Rufo claims daily for creating this CRT and DEI crisis.

As much as these parties want to blame the prior administration or our schools, nothing screams projection louder than their own words. Unfortunately, to their success, they've dumbed these issues down into meme-level disinformation, division, and conspiracies over the Great Replacement Theory, which achieves their plan to profit from our students while widening the disparities.

Promoting any of this outright is highly unpopular, which is why they've latched onto convincing white people they're being discriminated against and replaced. That will turn out voters.

The Trump Administration and The Heritage Foundation, among others, are salivating over the opportunity to burn it all down using manipulated data and talking points that naturally point to private religious schools and money-making charters as the only solutions. The truth is that public education and all students have yet to be given a genuine chance in America.

These destructive scams and schemes are precisely why the Trump administration and its privatization activists have no business rewriting our nation's history books, let alone overseeing American education.

Ask More Questions About These 9 Promises from School Board Candidates

Sun, 06 Oct 2024 23:34:53 GMT

Reading Between the Lines of Shared School Board Campaign Messaging

School boards get little attention until there is controversy ( Governing ), and manufactured controversy is turning Michigan's nonpartisan school board races into heated battlegrounds. Hyper-partisan politics, dark money interests, and misinformation are entering the equation and increasingly influencing campaigns.

When deciphering literature and evaluating candidates, parents and caretakers of current K-12 students have visibility into their districts' real issues. Far more voters are left wondering what to make of shocking claims sweeping the nation and whether local schools have gone as far downhill as anecdotes or literature suggest.

As we dig in, remember what Michigan schools are up against and determine whether a candidate is acting in students' or others' best interests.

Understanding the Role of Local School Boards and How We Got Here

The Michigan Association of School Boards explains that the school board makes policy while the superintendent administers it. School boards offer district leadership through goal setting, policies, superintendent evaluations, budgets, curriculum, staffing appraisals, and determining facility needs. Board members are generally familiar with the district as alumni, former staff, or parents.

School boards don't manage the day-to-day. They can establish policies to guide how districts review content in their media centers, but they are not implementing book-by-book evaluations. They can update district policies to comply with state and federal civil rights laws, but they cannot decide whether to follow those laws, even if their beliefs are at moral odds with them.

Because school board elections and campaigns have not previously required much campaigning, the idea of savvy campaigns and compelling candidate platforms is relatively new. According to the National School Boards Association, turnout in school board elections has dipped as low as 5% to 10%. Michigan’s next round of school board elections will occur during the presidential election, so campaigns are drawing far more attention.

Coordinated Campaigns Aim to “Rebuild” America Through Its Schools

Community schools usually unite residents of all backgrounds through shared pride in students, academics, and athletics. Rivalries generally play out under the Friday night lights.

However, a calculated hyper-partisan blueprint to “rebuild” America through local schools was outlined in the late 90’s. The pandemic and social unrest between 2020-2022 provided the “lighting in a bottle” moment to escalate it.

Pinpoint schools as assets. A 1996 statement from Faith & Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed said, “Winning school elections would win America’s battles over evolution instruction, sex education, and school prayer.”
Establish the approach. Architects of Project 2025 [and backers of Moms for Liberty] gave a 2002 speech to The Heritage Foundation, explaining that America needs to invest in private religious schools and that vouchers are crucial. Efforts to pass vouchers and eliminate public education once and for all will need to appear locally organized...like it was the idea of moms chatting over coffee.
Give people an emotional "why." Regurgitating boring messages like "advance academic success" doesn't exactly motivate folks to take action and head to the ballot box. Conservative Think Tank leader and privatization activist Christopher Rufo joined The Heritage Foundation as a fellow in 2020 and outlined in 2021 his plans to manufacture lies to anger and turn out voters, opting to leverage and weaponize misunderstood acronyms like CRT, DEI, SEL, LGBTQ, gender ideology , and more. Not sure what these things mean? That's intentional. Remember when a politician recently said they would make up stories to get people to pay attention? Rufo and his associates fill the knowledge gap with their own stories. Using "BLM's" timeliness, he started with Critical Race Theory, alluding to the concept of "Great Replacement Theory," making white Americans irrelevant.
Reinforce the mission. Former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon amplified the American battlecry message, saying on his podcast, “The path to save the nation is very simple — it’s going to go through the school boards with Critical Race Theory.”
Enlist, equip and empower the activists. Setting the playbook into motion, heavily funded dark money groups like Moms for Liberty launched to engage moms and parents at the coffee meeting level with opportunities to be leaders in the “fight for the survival of America” as joyful warriors . They launched in Florida, focusing on CRT , and continue to move through the acronyms. Each time Rufo issues a sensational new "brief," Moms for Liberty creates new talking points and action steps to keep people engaged...and angry. We're now onto Parental Rights - another vague term that high courts have helped clarify. Nothing creates an emotional "why" like telling parents they've now become irrelevant and replaced by radical teachers facilitating secret surgeries. Lather, rinse, repeat.
It's worth noting that all of the bans and don't say legislation started in Florida, where Christopher Rufo was added to the board of New College. The most sensational lies about parental rights and transgender students come from Governor DeSantis , who helped advocate for the latest voucher program in Michigan to help kids escape 'CRT-filled government schools' into private religious schools.

There are several Moms for Liberty chapters and spinoff groups in Michigan.

This plan clearly aims to dismantle public education through fallacies, build a new generation of like-minded voters, and advance favor for private religious groups. Goals for student academic outcomes, post-graduation success, and evidence-based guidance on what’s best for America’s children are not mentioned anywhere. Yet, these groups are enlisting and training today's "Parental Rights" school board candidates and circulating endorsements to signal commitment to their beliefs.

This explains why so many “outside” individuals without school affiliations (besides their geography) are newly stepping up to help "do their part" to see through the plan - whether they know they're a part of it or have been inadvertently swept up in the emotional recruiting and intentionally built community aspect of the joyful warrior fight. Moms for Liberty is skilled at highlighting empowering messaging and downplaying or hiding the rest.

Spotting Plan-Based School Board Campaign Messaging

Savvy school board campaigning and the need to establish platforms beyond committing to “do what’s best for all students” is new. Yet, there is a shared formula that many candidates are using, which points to the local footprint of playbook guidance . The campaign messaging formula looks something like this:

Highlight 3-4 ubiquitous and generic playbook topics
Optionally include 1 locally relevant topic, however broad

They're also encouraged to go low.

Examples of seemingly innocent promises with playbook intentions include:

What Strong Candidates Say

Teachers and school board members are not savvy campaigners, coached by think tanks and playbooks, or funded to buy more than a handful of signs, let alone billboards or mailers. It's rare to see objective candidates reference their political party in any of their campaign materials or conversations.

Campaign and school board priorities mirror some of the Real Issues .

Increasing the voices of educators during administrative decision-making
Promoting healthy class sizes
Support from paraprofessionals and other staff to assist educators with managing student behavior
Increasing resources and support for student (and educator) mental health
Supporting special education students and programming
Mitigating issues like vaping, attendance, and bullying
Shaping and contributing to the district's strategic vision
Advocating for practical solutions to enrollment, such as adding early education and pre-K programs
Clarifying expectations between educators, instructional coaches, and administrators
Leveraging available resources for tutoring programs and solutions to promote reading proficiency
Developing engaging lessons that maintain and increase student participation and enthusiasm
Ensuring equity across school buildings and program offerings
Promoting objective, data-backed, and evidence-based decision-making
Increasing compensation for educators, substitute teachers, paraprofessionals, and transportation staff
Improving the nutrition and quality of foodservice offerings
Advocating for ample funding and helping the district build community understanding and support for bonds and millages

Will Parental Rights Prevail in Michigan? Election 2024 Will Soon Tell

Election outcomes across the country have begun to show diminishing returns for parental rights candidates:

"Too hyperbolic? School board parental rights push falters." ( AP )
Analysis: Parents rights school board campaigns lost most Michigan races ( Bridge Michigan )

History shows that these privatization groups are always searching for the next big emotional hit, so the efforts of "Joyful Warriors" will surely evolve. However, the more likely long-term scenario and success factor for advancing universal vouchers, privatized education models, and various bans is through the much friendlier Supreme Court.

FAQ: Fast Facts About Title IX Updates in Michigan

Sun, 06 Oct 2024 02:11:14 GMT

"We cannot find that the conduct was of a sexual nature. Thus, it did not violate the Sexual Harassment Policy. However, we find the claim helpful in that it allows us to examine certain practices at the MSU Sports Medicine Clinic." - Response given to one of Larry Nassar's victims who filed a Title IX complaint with MSU, before the truth about horrific abuse was revealed ( Lansing State Journal )

Answers to 21 Title IX Questions and Claims

Michigan's public school boards are responsible for maintaining policies that comply with federal and state laws. Federal updates to Title IX laws mean that boards must follow routine practices to review and vote on policy changes.

Prevalent misinformation is prompting a new wave of school board meeting attendance and public comments. It's critical to understand the facts. Let's discuss common claims and questions about Title IX.

Q: What is Title IX?

A: Title IX is a federal civil rights law signed by Richard Nixon in 1972 to prevent sex-based discrimination, harassment, bullying, and violence in federally funded K-12 schools and colleges. The law initially helped to alleviate discrimination among women applying to colleges. Title IX defines harassment and specifies how to investigate reports.

Q: Why does Title IX change?

A: Lawmakers at the federal and state level pass updates to better define or protect marginalized groups. The timing of changes to federal and state civil laws rights don't always align, but states must follow their local laws. Many administrations, including Presidents Obama and Trump, have implemented updates to Title IX. President Biden's changes aim to restore protections for all victims of harassment, which were restricted in 2020 to favor the accused and make it harder for schools to investigate. View this comparison chart to understand the differences between 2020 and 2024 definitions ( National Women's Law Center ). The implications of federal Title IX updates vary by state based on civil rights laws.

Q: What do the Title IX updates mean for Michigan schools?

A: Every K-12 school and college that receives federal funding must have at least one person designated as the Title IX Coordinator, which has been a requirement since 1972. The most significant implications for Michigan schools and students are how that Coordinator determines whether the criteria for harassment have been met and how schools must investigate incidents. View a comparison chart for a short overview of these changes. ( National Women’s Law Center )

2020 Title IX Definition

Schools must address sexual harassment if it is so “severe” and “pervasive” that it “effectively denies” a person equal access to a school program or activity. (The Trump Administration introduced severe restrictions to favor the accused within a 2,033-page document.)

“ New rule governing assault is nearly impossible for survivors to use ” (TIME, May 14, 2020)

2024 Title IX Definition

Schools must address sex-based harassment if it is so “severe or pervasive” that it “denies or limits” a person’s ability to participate in a school program or activity.

Beyond the Nassar example, a recent Alpena, Michigan case highlights how, in March 2024, an elementary-aged girl was left without support after a boy inappropriately touched her. ( Michigan Public Radio , March 13, 2024). Neither of these examples involve LGBTQIA+ individuals, but they address far more common issues.

Q: What do the Title IX updates mean for Michigan bathrooms, etc.?

A: Schools follow federal and state laws, but Michigan is years ahead of the Title IX updates on this topic. Title IX revisions do not introduce any new changes for Michigan school bathrooms in 2024. The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act of 1977 covers Michigan's civil rights laws ( State of Michigan ) and bipartisan legislation amended the Act on March 16, 2023 to include protections for LGBTQIA+ individuals.

The Elliott-Larsen Act prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, public services, and access to educational facilities based on "religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, height, weight, familial status or marital status. The law also restricts employers from making employment decisions based on pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition.

This means that Michigan schools evaluated the best way to provide student accommodations over a year and a half ago. The federal Title IX updates are not creating a first-time issue for schools in 2024.

Further, this topic and related policies have been active across Michigan districts since at least 2016:

Federal law settles debate over transgender students and bathroom use, advocates say (MLive, March 29, 2016)
Rockford superintendent sends letter to Michigan lawmakers about transgender bathroom policy (FOX17, May 13, 2016)
Let it Rip: Michigan transgender bathroom policies (FOX2, April 24, 2016)
Transgender bathrooms early focus in Michigan race (The Detroit News, August 31, 2016)

Q: What are some of the bathroom policies Michigan schools are implementing?

A: Between 2016 and 2023, each district created access to facilities in a way that works best for their community, buildings, and students that keeps them compliant with state and federal laws. Here are some of the example policies:

Michigan schools take different approaches to LGBTQ policies (Michigan Radio, August 14, 2023)
Treating each need on a case-by-case basis
Providing access to single-unit restrooms and changing areas in school offices or faculty areas
Requiring separate/individual hotel rooms during travel
Creating gender-neutral facilities
Hartland Schools
Potterville Schools
Plymouth-Canton Schools

Check with your local school district to confirm your policies, or review the district’s bathroom policies on their website.

Q: Why did Michigan lawmakers add protections for LGBTQIA+ individuals? Who supported this?

A: When Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act was amended in 2023, lawmakers noted:

Too many Michiganders still face discrimination, inequality, and attacks on their life, mental health, and property. In 2023, 74% of LGBTQ+ youth experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity and almost half considered suicide in the past year.

Twenty-two states and more than 100 cities have adopted these common-sense, inclusive and comprehensive protections for LGBTQ+ people.

Eighty-three percent of Michiganders support nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people. The legislation has widespread support from a number of organizations and individuals, including the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, Corktown Health, the Detroit Police Department, medical professionals, faith leaders, spouses and parents. A number of businesses and economic organizations have also advocated for the legislation as a way to make Michigan a more welcoming, inclusive and competitive state. BASF, DOW, the Michigan Realtors Association, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, the Detroit Regional Chamber, the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, and Business Leaders for Michigan all have endorsed the legislation.

Q: Have there been any incidents in Michigan schools since March 2023?

A: There are 1,300,144 students enrolled in 2,959 K-12 schools across 539 school districts in Michigan. According to Bridge Michigan , 3,950 Michigan youths between 13 and 17 identify as transgender, which equates to .3% of the public school student population. Nationally, about 1.8% of all youth identify as transgender, according to The Trevor Project.

There have been no reported incidents in Michigan or nationally involving transgender individuals harassing or assaulting others.

The University of Michigan researched the impact of bathroom policies and found, "The adult dialogue we hear in the media often includes a lot of fear and guesswork about how this issue may impact children in schools.” ( Michigan Medicine )

Q: Do Michigan schools receive financial incentives or rewards for implementing the new Title IX updates?

A: No, Title IX is a civil rights and discrimination law. The only financial incentive is to follow the law so that school districts aren’t sued when failing to investigate the harassment or assault of anyone. Another example of why MSU's violations were so significant.

This financial compensation rumor could be because of politically controversial ESSER funding, which is emergency funding designed to help address educational issues arising from the pandemic by providing schools with resources to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the COVID-19 crisis ( K12 Dive).

Remember that Title IX was passed under the Nixon administration to mitigate the discrimination against women applying to college. Since Title IX was introduced, there have been Title IX Coordinators in schools. Who gets paid or incentivized for either discriminating against hiring pregnant women or not? Or, who got paid for discriminating or not against women applicants to college? That’s the analogy.

Notably, the other funding connection is that Title IX applies to any institution that receives federal funding. This means private religious schools do not have to follow Title IX, unless they receive federal funding. In Michigan, using vouchers or student opportunity scholarships with public funds for private religious schools is illegal, so this would not apply. This is where the political response to Title IX comes into play and reveals why some groups are opposed to Title IX at all.

There are ongoing efforts through organizations like The Heritage Foundation, Moms for Liberty and Young America’s Foundation, which co-authored Project 2025, to abolish the Department of Education because it houses Title IX.
These groups would like to dismantle public education and advance a privatized model that prioritizes private religious schools and allows corporations to earn tax credits for diverting funds into scholarships.
Private religious schools would like to be able to discriminate or decline enrollment without cause and despite the protections Title IX creates for girls against harassment and assault, they would like to be able to avoid discrimination issues if they receive any federal funding (public money).

For more on this, Professor Josh Cowan, PhD of Michigan State University, specializes in education policy and has published extensive research on privatization. ( MSU )

Record academic declines: Studies from research teams in Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio and Washington, D.C., show significant academic loss for students who used vouchers to leave public schools. The studies show losses in voucher programs surpass those experienced by students in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina or by students nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Benefit to existing private school students: Approximately 70% of students across nine states who utilized school vouchers had never been enrolled in public schools, indicating that these programs primarily benefit students already in private schools.
Bailout for failing private schools: Studies from Milwaukee, home to the country’s oldest voucher program, reveal 41% of private schools participating in the program eventually closed.

Q: Do taxpayers need to pay for the cost to hire more people to implement the new Title IX updates?

A: No. Each school and district already have Title IX Coordinators on staff. The only change is to how they define harassment and pursue investigations.

Appropriate mental health support is a larger topic than Title IX. Separately, the state has been exploring ways to fill the need for professionals. ( Chalkbeat ) It could be the case as part of a district’s plan that existing staff collaborate with the Title IX Coordinator to implement a student’s individual plan. This does not take away from or require extra resources.

Q: Were the Title IX updates and state civil rights laws passed by legislators or unelected bureaucrats?

A: As previously explained, every presidential administration has the opportunity to update Title IX, and federal and state civil rights acts evolve. Laws are solely passed by elected representatives and signed into law by Governors or the President.

There are no more voices influencing Title IX than lobbyists or activists sharing research and voices on topics like protecting the 2 ^nd Amendment (National Rifle Association), or farmers offering input on The Farm Bill.

The National Education Association or Michigan Education Association has no more power over federal or state civil rights laws than Moms Demand Action has on the 2 ^nd Amendment.

The current administration desires to make it easier for victims to get help and to mitigate violent killings of LGBTQIA+ individuals or suicide due to extreme bullying. Remember the Alpena case, which isn’t even related to LGBTQIA+ individuals.

Q: Why did the schools keep this information about Title IX from the public?

A: The federal government, nor the state, nor any individual school district has hidden anything from Michigan families. Devastating Title IX rollbacks were widely covered in 2020, as were the efforts to reinstate protections in 2024. The government even delayed the updates multiple times because they listened to hundreds of thousands of public comment testimonies to ensure they got it right https://www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pages/Biden-Admin-Final-Title-IX-Rule-Effective-Aug-1.aspx

The media cover Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Act and updates to it. https://www.littler.com/publication-press/publication/michigan-legislature-passes-amendment-elliott-larsen-civil-rights-act

These are publicly visible and applicable civil rights laws that are always transparent and clear.

Q: Can I speak at my school board meeting to ask them to decline passing updates based on the 2024 federal changes?

A: Anyone can speak during school board meetings based on the Open Meetings Act. However, Michigan school board members are not meeting to discuss whether each board member agrees with Title IX nor whether students should be given protections. This is not within their control. What is in their power is the responsibility to comply with laws. Failure to do so would subject them to millions of dollars in lawsuits for failing to investigate an assault or waste hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on lawsuits like Ottawa County has experienced.

Q: Our religious beliefs do not support LGBTQIA+ individuals and I do not want my child to use pronouns to identify themselves or others. Will they be subjected to a Title IX violation?

A: Michigan school districts want all students to feel safe and protected. Any student and their family can talk with their school’s leaders to learn more about their policies and establish solutions that fit the family’s preferences.

Consider the definition of harassment, discrimination, assault, and bullying:

2024 Title IX Definition: Schools must address sex-based harassment if it is so “severe or pervasive” that it “denies or limits” a person’s ability to participate in a school program or activity.

How much bullying would a child be doing that it is considered so pervasive that it affects the participation or access of another student to programs and activities?

The State of Michigan reminds us that "bullying is more than disagreements, differences of opinion, or conflicts that occur between friends and classmates. Bullying is serious and is defined as repeated, unwanted, aggressive behavior with an observed or perceived power imbalance."

There have been 17 transgender people this year alone who lost their lives because of this rhetoric and insinuations that peg them as violent criminals. ( Nex Benedict ) ( Pauly Likens ) ( Jazlynn Johnson )

Morally disagreeing with another's identity or way of dressing is anyone's right, and nobody disputes that. The same goes for having a difference of opinion rooted in religious beliefs. There's a common-sense difference between a Christian student asking for help to navigate concerns about bathrooms because of their religious beliefs and comments or actions that would be remotely perceived as harassment to a degree that limits another's ability to participate in a school program or activity. Title IX updates do not punish or retaliate against students or families who object to others’ identities and seek solutions to help them feel safe.

Q: Do the 2024 Title IX updates allow boys to play in girls’ and women’s sports in Michigan K-12 schools?

A: The Title IX changes do not address athletics. Separately, the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) has outlined a policy on transgender athletes https://cdn.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/TransgenderPolicy.pdf

Decisions about athletics are not within any local Board of Education's purview.

Q: If the 2024 Title IX updates are not about bathrooms or sports, then why are people saying it is?

A: The Heritage Foundation and Moms for Liberty launched extensive misinformation and disinformation campaigns about Title IX to support their goals to abolish the Department of Education and Title IX. Moms for Liberty is a national paid membership-based organization that relies on local chapters to speak about their concerns at the local level. Moms for Liberty has intentionally withheld the full picture of the Title IX implications that affect straight girls and women and their ability to avoid discrimination or to get help for harassment or assault. Instead, they are focusing on protecting:

The freedom to bully LGBTQIA+ individuals with bullying so severe it prevents kids from being able to attend school
The freedom to discriminate against LGBTQIA+ individuals and families
Engagement for pro-privatization efforts in tandem with election season

Michigan's trans kids are still protected. Moms for Liberty isn't changing that (Detroit Free Press)

Here, we have the Title IX page on the Moms' website. In their Frequently Asked Questions section, they ask;

Why did the [Trump-appointed] District Court find the Biden Administration's Title IX rewrite violated the rights of Moms for Liberty members?
Answer: In its preliminary injunction opinion, the district court found the Title IX rewrite violates Moms for Liberty members’ children’s First Amendment rights because it is so vague and overbroad that no one knows how to comply with it.

Moms for Liberty was named an "extremist" group ( NPR ) and actively campaign with the authors of the 2020 Title IX restrictions who advocate for privatization models.

Q: Can Michigan schools and educators give students medications, like puberty blockers, without parental consent?

A: No. Schools cannot medicate students with puberty blockers or facilitate a transition. No school in America can send a child to a doctor to transition. Parents always preserve their rights to consent and many states restrict parents from taking these actions even with their consent.

Fact-checking DeSantis: Can trans kids go to Calif. and get care without parents?

PolitiFact | Children younger than 18 in California require parental consent to receive gender-affirming medical care. ( Tampa Bay Times )

Q: Can Michigan schools and educators refer or transport students to healthcare clinics for services that help facilitate transitions?

A: NO. Please see above.

Q: Have you heard that transgender bathroom policies resulted in the assault of a student in Virginia?

A: This is misinformation. The 2020 Title IX rollbacks created this viral bathroom nightmare.

The 2020 changes caused a Virginia school district to mishandle a sexual assault. Virginia's 2021 gubernatorial race was among the most highly publicized in the nation, and Governor Younkin's campaign leaned on many "parental rights" and anti-transgender talking points. Youngkin ran hundreds of TV ads pledging to make school curricula less “un-American” and to overhaul policies on transgender students and school bathrooms. The timing and politicization of the sexual assault, the campaign platform, and the district's response went viral and ignited panic over bathrooms.
In May 2021, a boy assaulted a girl in a bathroom. The school was debating how to provide legal access to bathrooms in its school district (a Civil Rights issue). During this time, the boy put on a skirt, entered a girls' bathroom, and assaulted the student. Politicians and the media were quick to describe the boy as "gender fluid" and used the incident to fuel Youngkin's speeches and platform. However, the teen and the girl had had consensual sex in the school bathroom previously, a grand jury noted .
The grand jury found that after the consensual encounter, the teens texted about meeting in the bathroom again, but the girl expressed reluctance via texts. When she met the boy in the bathroom this time, he sexually assaulted her (rape/date rape). The student wasn’t transgender but did wear a skirt that day. He was in a drama club and prone to dress for attention.
During the lengthy investigation, the boy was allowed to enroll with a neighboring school that Fall where, in October 2021, he dragged a girl into a classroom, strangled, and assaulted her. ( WTOP )
"After the male student’s enrollment at [the new school], there were many warning signs that teachers and administrators should have flagged. For example, on September 9, 2021 in English class, the student grabbed a female’s shoulder “really hard” and asked her whether she ever posted nude photos online. The incident was reported as a possible Title IX violation. While the superintendent and chief of staff “expressed concern” after learning of the situation from multiple people, there was “no evidence of any discernible action" based on the 2020 Title IX definitions.
The male student identified as male, used male pronouns and had not previously identified as LGBTQIA.
A judge unsealed the case in 2023 and the victim's family filed a $30 million lawsuit because the district failed to properly investigate the assault.
This was one of more than 12,000 incidents on Virginia’s K-12 campuses over five years, pointing to a significant problem.
Unfortunately, the damage was done after the initial mention of "bathroom assault," and this fueled Youngkin's victory and ignited "gay panic." The political firestorm in Virginia plays a role in Michigan's conversation because only the first part of the case is cited. Nobody adds all of the subsequent details:
The immediate and inaccurate rush to brand the criminal as "gender fluid" or transgender during the height of political campaigns vilified LGBTQIA+ individuals nationwide. The loose references to gender fluidity implied that transgender (male to female) individuals are physically and sexually aggressive and pose risks to girls. Politicians convinced the public through ads that we have left girls or victims powerless.
Factually, the Virginia case proves three things:
The school did not establish a proper policy, lied, and tried to cover it up while simultaneously creating a policy amid thousands of school assault incidents.
The school ignored many red flags about this student.
The Title IX coordinators had to navigate a 2,300-page Title IX change document, conduct cross-examination, and take many other cumbersome steps before taking action to help the victim. As noted, other incidents were reported, but the administration couldn't act based on the narrow 2020 definition of harassment.

Q: Are public schools at odds with parental rights?

A: No. Parents are invited to freely exercise their rights by choosing everything from the school their children attend to the materials they can or cannot obtain from libraries. They can also opt students out of particular lessons. Public schools are responsible for providing education to the entire public, which means that inside the school walls, Parental Rights also need to consider federal and state civil rights.

In 2022, Michigan passed legislation requiring schools to display Parental Rights. ( Chalkbeat )

MCL 380.10: "It is the natural, fundamental right of parents and legal guardians to determine and direct the care, teaching, and education of their children. The public schools of this state serve the needs of the pupils by cooperating with the pupil's parents and legal guardians to develop the pupil's intellectual capabilities and vocational skills in a safe and positive environment."

"While parents may have a fundamental right to decide whether to send their child to a public school, they do not have a fundamental right generally to direct how a public school teaches their child. Whether it is the school curriculum, the hours of the school day, school discipline, the timing and content of examinations, the individuals hired to teach at the school, the extracurricular activities offered at the school, or a dress code, these issues of public education are generally 'committed to the control of state and local authorities.'" - Blau v. Fort Thomas Public Schools

Q: Are we dismantling women’s sports and women’s rights?

A: First, Title IX does not currently include any guidance about athletics. We can find no studies on the impact, only partisan opinion pieces on either side of the aisle arguing on anecdotes or predictions. There are 520,000 NCAA athletes, and it’s estimated that there are 35-40 transgender athletes (male-to-female and female-to-male).

That is .0076% of the NCAA population.

Students are far more likely to experience school violence, harassment, bullying or assault.

This month, the outing of a transgender volleyball player at San Diego State University, who has been playing without issue for three years, has made headlines after political activist Riley Gaines filed a lawsuit – not when the player started college, but before the 2024 election. The lawsuit will take time to resolve.

Title IX remains the only law that grants women any equality in America and protection from the far more common traumas like the Larry Nassar case.

The law opened doors and removed barriers for girls and women, and while female athletes and their sports programs still have fewer teams, fewer scholarships, and lower budgets than their male counterparts, since Title IX's passage, female participation at the high school level has grown by 1057 percent at the high school level and 614 percent at the college level. ( Billie Jean King )

A Vanderbilt University researcher acknowledges rampant sexual abuse among women and adds, “Female participation in college athletics has increased to nearly five times the pre-1972 participation rates since the introduction of Title IX. While that progress is admirable, the athletes of today-both male and female-deserve better. A decrease in the number of female coaches, high rates of sexual abuse of female athletes, and elimination of successful men's programs are some of the major negative unintended consequences of Title IX as it is currently implemented. It is in the best interest of all serious collegiate athletes-male and female-to update the system to ensure the integrity of college athletics and wellbeing of student athletes. This Note argues that the best way to fix Title IX is to alter its biggest weakness: the proportionality requirement. Specifically, this Note suggests a new solution: the FEMALE Act, which would (1) remove the top revenue-producing sport at each school from the proportionality calculation; (2) require schools to meet the proportionality requirement with coaches, not just athletes; and (3) add provisions that better protect athletes from sexual abuse.”

Q: Have any legal issues arisen in Michigan since the federal and state policies were implemented?

A: Attorney Matt DePerno, who is facing multiple personal lawsuits, filed a 2023 case after the Elliott Larsen Civil Rights amendment on behalf of students in Vicksburg. He withdrew his representation for the plaintiffs on October 4, 2024. In the initial filing, DePerno argued:

“Some Plaintiffs and other girls did not understand if the biological male was in the girls’ restroom and locker rooms in order to spy on them, take pictures, threaten them or harm them.” ( MLive , August 2023)

Thrun Law represents several Michigan school districts and advises:

Schools undoubtedly will face questions from parents of students who have expressed discomfort with bathroom arrangements. We recommend reminding all students and parents that privacy in school private areas like bathrooms and locker rooms is paramount, regardless of gender identity. No individual should engage in conduct that violates another student’s privacy rights, including taking photos or videos or “peeping” on students. If any student engages in such misconduct, discipline is generally appropriate. Additionally, any student who is uncomfortable using a group bathroom should be provided access to alternate facilities.

Schools are often faced with a situation where the student and parent(s) do not agree on how to address the student’s transgender status. The Michigan State Board of Education has long taken the position that the best person to determine a student’s gender identity is the individual student. If you find that a parent does not agree with the student’s viewpoint, we recommend first discussing the issue with the family to determine if there is a potential adequate solution that works for the family. If those efforts are unsuccessful, consider contacting legal counsel.

Other DePerno references:

Former Michigan GOP attorney general nominee is charged in voting machine breach (NPR, August 1, 2023)
Attorney Matt DePerno withdraws Michigan Supreme Court Bid (Detroit Free Press, August 24, 2024)
Michigan Supreme Court candidate may face disbarment – after the election (Bridge Michigan , July 24, 2024)

Michigan law also requires that legal action be in good faith. If you sue someone or raise defenses against someone who has sued you without any factual or legal basis to do so or to spite that person, there will be financial remedies. If you are the party that wins the entire case and the court finds that the lawsuit or defense to that suit was frivolous, it must assess costs and attorney fees against the losing party and their attorney.

MCL - Section 600.2591 Frivolous civil action or defense to civil action; awarding costs and fees to prevailing party; definitions.

Sec. 2591.

(1) Upon motion of any party, if a court finds that a civil action or defense to a civil action was frivolous, the court that conducts the civil action shall award to the prevailing party the costs and fees incurred by that party in connection with the civil action by assessing the costs and fees against the nonprevailing party and their attorney.

(2) The amount of costs and fees awarded under this section shall include all reasonable costs actually incurred by the prevailing party and any costs allowed by law or by court rule, including court costs and reasonable attorney fees.

(3) As used in this section:

(a) "Frivolous" means that at least 1 of the following conditions is met:

(i) The party's primary purpose in initiating the action or asserting the defense was to harass, embarrass, or injure the prevailing party.

(ii) The party had no reasonable basis to believe that the facts underlying that party's legal position were in fact true.

(iii) The party's legal position was devoid of arguable legal merit.

(b) "Prevailing party" means a party who wins on the entire record.

https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL...

https://www.tilchinhall.com/.../the-dangers-of-frivolity.../

Here is a list of proposed bills on the topic of transgender rights in Michigan.

https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/MI

For questions or to request a factual update to be reviewed by the editor, please email Michigan School Scoop.

Turns Out the Title IX Backlash is About Protecting the Freedom to Harass Marginalized Students

Sat, 21 Sep 2024 06:22:24 GMT

Honest questions revive a Parental Rights "hate group" designation

Title IX, first passed in 1972, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex—including sex-based harassment and bullying, as well as sexual assault—in schools that receive federal funding.

In our Title IX fallacy alert , we explained that Michigan school board meetings are being overwhelmed by “concerned” community members and "parental rights" advocates about the fallacy that the 2024 Title IX updates encourage boys to enter girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms. Many of those speaking do not have children in schools. In one district, public comments were given by a Moms for Liberty-backed school board member from an adjacent district who encouraged the board to "do the right thing" by breaking the law and declining to make Title IX updates.

We explained that Michigan's Civil Rights laws were amended in 2023 to protect pregnant, nursing, and LGBTQIA+ individuals, which led most school districts to establish bathroom and locker room policies. There have been no issues reported in the state or country involving transgender people harming others in bathrooms.

The key takeaways are that the 2024 Title IX regulations now match Michigan's Civil Rights Laws because they add protections for pregnant students and teachers and LGBTQ+ students and teachers. Read the comparison between 2020 and 2024 Title IX . The most significant change for Michigan schools and students is shifting Title IX harassment protections from the accused to the victim.

Let's dig a bit deeper to uncover why Parental Rights groups are so upset about strengthening protections for victims (which includes their girls in the bathrooms).

Title IX "Stifles The Freedom" to Speak Out About Marginalized Students

As more holes compromise the integrity of the bathroom concern in states like ours, which have Civil Rights laws pre-dating the Title IX updates, the story is turning into a “First Amendment” issue.

Moms for Liberty and Young America’s Foundation members are protesting and legally fighting for their students' rights to bully others at school. To be more explicit, these advocates are saying they would like to sacrifice increased protections from sexual harassment for their daughters (all children) because they find greater value in preserving the right to protect their children's freedom of speech to bully LGBTQ+ students.

Remember that any private religious schools that receive federal funding (vouchers) must follow Title IX. They want to be able to refuse enrollment/applications from LGBTQ+ students because they are LGBTQ+ students (or to bully them out if it's discovered they have an LGBTQ+ household). If any public school families and Moms for Liberty members are speaking against Title IX, this also means they are fighting harder to protect the ability for religious private schools to discriminate and for vouchers to be approved than they are fighting to enhance the safety of their public school students.

We're not using the word "bully" lightly. The State of Michigan reminds us that "bullying is more than disagreements, differences of opinion, or conflicts that occur between friends and classmates. Bullying is serious and is defined as repeated, unwanted, aggressive behavior with an observed or perceived power imbalance."

Morally disagreeing with another's identity or way of dressing is anyone's right, and nobody disputes that. Same with having a difference of opinion. We're talking about parents fighting for the right to maintain harassment that is "so severe or pervasive" in a school building or digital platform that it affects someone's ability to participate in school. There's a common-sense difference between a student asking for help to navigate concerns about bathrooms because of their religious beliefs and comments or actions that would be remotely perceived as harassment to a degree that limits another's ability to participate in a school program or activity.

2020 Title IX Definition

Schools must address sexual harassment if it is so “severe” and “pervasive” that it “effectively denies” a person equal access to a school program or activity.

2024 Title IX Definition

Schools must address sex-based harassment if it is so “severe or pervasive” that it “denies or limits” a person’s ability to participate in a school program or activity.

Here, we have the Title IX page on the Moms' website. In their Frequently Asked Questions section, they ask;

Why did the [Trump-appointed] District Court find the Biden Administration's Title IX rewrite violated the rights of Moms for Liberty members?
Answer: In its preliminary injunction opinion, the district court found the Title IX rewrite violates Moms for Liberty members’ children’s First Amendment rights because it is so vague and overbroad that no one knows how to comply with it.

Really? This explains why Moms for Liberty was named an "extremist" group ( NPR ).

Here's an excerpt from a Michigan Moms for Liberty member's social media post encouraging everyone to add their kids' schools to a list the club is submitting to the court in hopes they will be exempt:

"If you are a parent who does not like the idea of your children being silenced or threatened with punishment for speaking against the grain in topics related to sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in school and/or for refusing to play the LGBTQ game of "pretend"... PLEASE be sure you are a member of Moms for Liberty in order to protect your children's school."

As the group's legal team put it, "They want to continue engaging with their classmates on these topics and hosting speakers to discuss [sic] these topics. They fear that under the new rule, they cannot continue their speech activities because they will be reported for harassment." The lawyer's description sounds more like they want to be able to walk into a school with unprompted/unsolicited campaigns against LGBTQ+ students, which doesn't quite align with their asks for neutrality.

This is classic Parental Rights group/Moms for Liberty wordsmithing to position themselves as victims for having religious beliefs in public schools. The sad reality after reviewing language and definitions underscores intolerance as opposed to youthful innocence.

Helping Families Navigate Legitimate Questions About Sensitive Title IX Topics

There will undoubtedly be muddy areas the community will need to collaborate on and discuss together. When sharing the initial fallacy alert, a community member reached out with an honest question, and we're grateful for the opportunity to learn more about scenarios that raise questions about Title IX's impact and engage in productive dialogue. In the example shared, a group of male high school students were uncomfortable with comments made by an LGBTQ+ student about their own body parts while they shared a theater production dressing room. The boys were afraid to report the situation for fear of being labeled bullies.

It doesn't sound like they relayed their concerns about the inappropriate comments to the student directly or to their faculty, but the topic went through the community. This is a unique, un-verified situation, but let's unpack this using Title IX:

First, any student making inappropriate comments about body parts is problematic. This applies to straight students and LGBTQ+ students.
It can be intimidating and embarrassing to discuss these types of situations with a teacher. However, any student experiencing inappropriate comments or behavior should report the comments to an adult. We are not educators here at MI School Scoop, but as adults and parents, it is entirely appropriate to report uncomfortable comments to the respective adult/faculty in charge, or perhaps a parent could place a call. It doesn't seem like anyone would consider a situation like this to be bullying by the boys, let alone harassment.
Conversely, the Title IX definition might show a violation by the student making the comments. Yet, the push to keep 2020 Title IX regulations in place makes the burden harder for all students.

"Parental Rights" Appears to Be Code for Ignoring Civil Rights

Moms for Liberty was born out of the manufactured CRT (critical race theory) panic in 2020/2021 (intentionally made up by Christopher Rufo), which, after being debunked, has evolved into attacks against "woke" DEI. Notice how the broad topic of DEI isn't too "overbroad" for the Moms. They believe they've nailed it. They intentionally set aside all of the ways equity and inclusion support special education students and other learners we need to better serve for educational success in Michigan. To Parental Rights groups, DEI very clearly means Black or diverse groups.

A small handful of other equity examples include:

Students in wheelchairs having access to transportation, physical education class, or playground equipment
Students with non-verbal learning disorders or who are deaf or blind/low vision
Students on 504 or IEP plans
Students who need access to technology they may not have at home
Inequitable funding, based on Proposal A, which requires districts to pass bonds and millages with voters for facilities and operations (and not all districts succeed). Some Michigan schools are forced to close during extreme heat.

Notably, Moms for Liberty believes:

The widely debunked myth that vaccines cause autism ( Mayo Clinic ), which is now driving Measles outbreaks ( CBS )
A better diet will solve all of these problems
Students with autism, Down syndrome, and who are LGBTQ+ should be segregated away from general classrooms

According to the Moms' website , CRT is still very much the primary worry, along with perceptions of Marxism. Revisit our Truths timeline , and this shouldn't be terribly surprising. Similarly, they blame Boeing airplane issues on DEI (read: Black) people and are replacing some textbooks with lessons that position slavery as a rewarding Black job.

It's juicy to shout about "woke" schools. Woke is a phrase taken from African Americans to turn around and use to mock them. The phrase first surfaced in the 1940s and was used by African Americans to “literally mean becoming woken up or sensitized to issues of justice," like the murder of Emmett Till . ( NAACP )

In Conclusion, The Parental Rights Fight is A Big Lie

In their own words, Moms for Liberty has explicitly outlined their threatening (legal) demands for their "Parental Rights" to:

Excuse/permit the bullying of LGBTQ+ students in school to such a degree that they are worried their children will actually risk a Title IX violation with bullying so severe and pervasive that it affects the participation or access of another student to programs and activities. Where these kids should draw the line feels "overbroad."
Disregard the overbroadness of equity or DEI and interpret this as a call to become a "joyful warrior and devoted patriot dedicated to fighting for the survival of America." They advocate placing special education and LGBTQ+ students in segregated classrooms and dishonestly promote the use of "student opportunity scholarships" and voucher programs to encourage "low-income, underprivileged and 'special needs'" students to leave their public schools to attend for-profit charters, which don't typically have the resources and later boot the students. ( Michigan Daily )

Michigan schools, educators, administrators, students, and families have endured disingenuous disruption tactics for over four years. We were led to believe that the concern over "parental rights" was about fighting for kids' school success or legitimate concerns, like reliable transportation.

As we peel back these layers, they prove that there is no end or bottom to the darkness of the attacks. By now, it's widely recognized that Moms for Liberty and related groups speak in code. It's becoming clear that the use of words like "protection," "warrior," "survival," and "patriots" are pointing to a battle to protect a very narrow set of "rights" that don't quite mesh with the rights public schools must honor in this country. These groups constantly demand a "voice" and for schools to embrace diverse perspectives. Trust that the voices have been heard loud and clear.

Our schools are responsible for following laws that include Civil Rights - and therein lies their problem with public education.

How to Help

As you see individuals in the community boasting their Moms for Liberty or local parental rights group affiliations, share what we know:
"This is a documented or copycat hate group explicitly fighting for the right to allow students to bully others so severely and pervasively that they affect those students' abilities to participate in school programs and activities. They are also fighting to protect the accused and make it harder for all of our students to be protected from harassment at school. They want schools to break Civil Rights laws to give themselves and their kids the Freedom of Speech not simply to have diversity of thought but to bully others to the point of shutting them out. These are their own words from their website. Their platform and tactics are not rooted in Parental Rights, but rather in the right to actively work against Civil Rights and public education in Michigan by whatever means necessary. We cannot indulge this harmful ideology anymore. We must celebrate honesty and pro-public education candidates. " ( CRT ) ( Title IX page )
Beyond pointing out these truths, share the platforms, specific plans, and recommendations of others who demonstrate experience and expertise. Remember that tearing others down and complaining is not a complete strategy. What strengths and skills do others bring to the table?
Speak in support of schools and students who do not have as loud a voice as detractors do. They never back down and intentionally create miserable experiences for students, educators, and staff. The mission, however they chose to accept it, is to make public schools obsolete.
Share facts, such as how the old Title IX regulations create fewer protections for all students, even though we are only hearing the most sensational talking points. ( Comparison chart )
Uncover examples of ways schools are allowed and able to protect their people and resources from the constant flow of disruption, even if it comes from other areas or states. We have GOT to help our schools and educators.

Parental Rights

MCL 380.10: "It is the natural, fundamental right of parents and legal guardians to determine and direct the care, teaching, and education of their children. The public schools of this state serve the needs of the pupils by cooperating with the pupil's parents and legal guardians to develop the pupil's intellectual capabilities and vocational skills in a safe and positive environment."
"While parents may have a fundamental right to decide whether to send their child to a public school, they do not have a fundamental right generally to direct how a public school teaches their child. Whether it is the school curriculum, the hours of the school day, school discipline, the timing and content of examinations, the individuals hired to teach at the school, the extracurricular activities offered at the school, or a dress code, these issues of public education are generally 'committed to the control of state and local authorities.'" - Blau v. Fort Thomas Public Schools

Sensationalized Title IX Hyperbole Hits Michigan

Mon, 16 Sep 2024 12:19:18 GMT

Fallacies about Title IX

Michigan schools and their boards are loosening protections for students, particularly girls in bathrooms, by implementing federal Title IX policy updates (which Moms for Liberty is working to delay/prevent).
The topic of girls/boys and bathrooms is being decided now (fall 2024) in Michigan schools.
Title IX changes are creating new opportunities in Michigan for boys to play girls sports.

Truths:

Michigan school boards regularly update their policies to comply with state and federal laws with guidance from legal counsel and public discussion. The Title IX topic involves a mix of recent developments at the state and federal levels. There is a lot to unpack, and because of all of the considerations below, people are conflating separate topics to arrive at these fallacies. Right now, school boards are diligently navigating how to meet all laws while increasing protections for students and victims.

First, we need to define the difference and relationship between Civil Rights and Title IX matters:
Civil Rights laws define discrimination and protected groups . There are Civil Rights laws at the federal and state levels. For example, not discriminating against hiring a pregnant woman or denying someone the right to rent an apartment because of their age or national origin. Or not letting an LGBTQIA student enroll in school or a pregnant student into the lunch room. In education, this could also be Brown v. Board. These laws can be amended to add more specificity about the named group and what constitutes discrimination. ( Michigan Constitution )
In Michigan, our Civil Rights law is called The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. It first passed in 1976 and has had various amendments.
Title IX focuses more specifically on what to do when a protected group experiences sexual harassment in a school. The regulations designate the individuals responsible for investigating the school incidents and the necessary processes for investigating and resolving them. Title IX was initiated during the Nixon era to ensure that women had equal access to universities and protection from sexual harassment and other violations in college athletics. Title IX also covers K-12 schools that are federally funded, which can include private religious schools if they have any federal funding. ( Justice.gov )
Consider skimming this helpful comparison chart if you simply want to see the differences between 2020 and 2024 Title IX regulations ( National Women's Law Center )

How Any Changes Affect School Boards:

Laws change often at all levels of government, and new presidential administrations make small changes to Civil Rights laws and Title IX regulations. School boards, in partnership with their legal counsel, ensure their school policies are updated with all federal, state, and local laws. While this is a regular practice throughout the year, we have just begun the 2024/2025 school year. There were some developments over the summer that we had a heads-up about earlier this calendar year.
As of August 1, 2024, school boards are/were responsible for updating their Title IX policies to comply with federal changes. The changes focus on how they investigate reports/incidents of sexual harassment and discrimination at school. Please review this chart to compare the 2020 policies and 2024 policies. Michigan school districts are at various stages of revising how they handle sexual harassment .

Now remember, when a school board makes "updates," they don't take this process lightly. You may notice school board meeting agendas that reference a "first reading" or a "second reading." Any updates must include a thorough review with legal counsel to ensure the policies consider:
Civil Rights Acts at the federal and state level
Title IX at the federal and state level
Michigan's constitution
District considerations and Board dialogue
Public comment

What To Know About Recent Changes to Civil Rights and Title IX:

Civil Rights:

The state's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, first passed in 1976 to prohibit discrimination, was expanded in 2023 to include protections for LGBTQIA+ individuals (sexual identity and gender).
1976: Prohibits discrimination on the basis of “religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status, or marital status” in employment, housing, education, and access to public accommodations.
2023: Adds protections for LGBTQ+ Michiganders, pregnant and nursing women, and natural hairstyles.
Why? Consider the 1976 definition. It says not to discriminate against women, but what about a teacher interviewing for a job who is asking for a place to be able to pump breast milk? She cannot be denied a job or a place to pump simply because she is a nursing woman. Or, a Black woman applying for a job but is told that she must wear her hair in braids instead of in a natural style or else she won't be a fit. Or, an LGBTQIA+ student cannot be denied acceptance into a neighboring Schools of Choice program because they are bisexual. Title IX examples apply to K-12 and college students.

Regarding bathrooms, since 2023, it is illegal in Michigan to decline access to education and public accommodations for any of the groups covered by The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. There have already *been* protections for LGBTQIA+ minors and adults in our state.

Any public/federally funded space needed to take steps in 2023 to ensure that they have provided access . T he how can be determined by each space - with more policies. Most school districts established bathroom policies over a year ago, allowing transgender students access to single-use faculty or office bathrooms, or other accommodations. This matter should be long resolved, and there have been no reported incidents or crimes since this law was passed in Michigan. However, the bathroom policy is the responsibility of each district to create.

Federal Title IX updates do not change whether or not Michigan schools need to follow that law because Civil Rights protect our residents. This may not be the case in other states, where Title IX creates first-time non-discrimination protections based on its definition of protected groups (e.g. harassment based on sexual/gender identity vs. sex) that would require investigations. At the federal level, Title IX now matches the definitions Michigan has been using across all Title IX categories since 2023.

What Title IX Covers and Why It Changes:

It's common for presidential administrations to make updates to Title IX. View the 2020 and 2024 differences here: ( National Women's Law Center )

Title IX areas covered for K-12 and higher education students include:
Sex-based harassment
The duty to report sex-based harassment
Responding to sex-based harassment
Investigating sex-based harassment
Preventing sex-based harassment
Anti LGBTQIA+ discrimination
Discrimination against pregnant and parenting students

The word "discrimination" is new for some states, unlike Michigan, that do not already have Civil Rights protections for LGBTQIA+, pregnant, nursing or parenting individuals.

In 2020, the Trump Administration implemented severe restrictions to Title IX , which limited many of the above areas to favor those accused of sexual assault and harassment, making it extremely difficult for victims to come forward or receive help from their schools. You can view a helpful comparison of Title IX under the previous administration and the revisions the current administration introduced to protect victims ( National Women's Law Center )
Glancing at our Truths timeline will provide helpful context about why this administration would want to roll these protections back because the 2020 changes might not sound very practical. Under the 2020 regulations, incidents of harassment reported in a K-12 school required months-long investigations that favored the accuser. They subjected victims to cross-examinations and the burden to meet an extremely narrow definition of harassment equating to not having "access" to school. These changes were buried in a 2,300-page document.

Title IX Rollbacks Create a Viral Bathroom Nightmare:

The 2020 changes also caused a Virginia school district to mishandle a sexual assault. Virginia's 2021 gubernatorial race was among the most highly publicized in the nation, and Governor Younkin's campaign leaned on many "parental rights" and anti-transgender talking points. Youngkin ran hundreds of TV ads pledging to make school curricula less “un-American” and to overhaul policies on transgender students and school bathrooms. The timing and politicization of the sexual assault, the campaign platform, and the district's response went viral and ignited panic over bathrooms.

In May 2021, a boy assaulted a girl in a bathroom. The school was debating how to provide legal access to bathrooms in its school district (a Civil Rights issue). During this time, the boy put on a skirt, entered a girls' bathroom, and assaulted the student. Politicians and the media were quick to describe the boy as "gender fluid" and used the incident to fuel Youngkin's speeches and platform. However, the teen and the girl had had consensual sex in the school bathroom previously, a grand jury noted .
The grand jury notes that after the consensual encounter, the teens texted about meeting in the bathroom again, but the girl expressed reluctance via texts. When she met the boy in the bathroom this time, he sexually assaulted her (rape/date rape). The student wasn’t transgender but did wear a skirt that day. He was in a drama club and prone to dress for attention.
During the lengthy investigation, the boy was allowed to enroll with a neighboring school that Fall where, in October 2021, he dragged a girl into a classroom, strangled, and assaulted her. ( WTOP )
"After the male student’s enrollment at [the new school], there were many warning signs that teachers and administrators should have flagged. For example, on September 9, 2021 in English class, the student grabbed a female’s shoulder “really hard” and asked her whether she ever posted nude photos online. The incident was reported as a possible Title IX violation. While the superintendent and chief of staff “expressed concern” after learning of the situation from multiple people, there was “no evidence of any discernible action" based on the 2020 Title IX definitions.
The male student identified as male, used male pronouns and had not previously identified as LGBTQIA.
A judge unsealed the case in 2023 and the victim's family filed a $30 million lawsuit because the district failed to properly investigate the assault.
The school's spokesperson was used as a scapegoat and was placed on administrative leave for six months over the mishandling. The superintendent was fired.
This was one of more than 12,000 incidents on Virginia’s K-12 campuses over five years, pointing to a significant problem.

Unfortunately, the damage was done after the initial mention of "bathroom assault," and this fueled Youngkin's victory and ignited "gay panic." The political firestorm in Virginia plays a role in Michigan's conversation because only the first part of the case is cited. Nobody adds all of the subsequent details:
The immediate and inaccurate rush to brand the criminal as "gender fluid" or transgender during the height of political campaigns vilified LGBTQIA+ individuals nationwide. The loose references to gender fluidity implied that transgender (male to female) individuals are physically and sexually aggressive and pose risks to girls. Politicians convinced the public through ads that we have left girls or victims powerless.
Factually, the Virginia case proves three things:
1) The school did not establish a proper policy, lied, and tried to cover it up while simultaneously creating a policy amid thousands of school assault incidents.
2) The school ignored many red flags about this student.
3) The Title IX coordinators had to navigate a 2,300-page Title IX change document, conduct cross-examination, and take many other cumbersome steps before taking action to help the victim. As noted, other incidents were reported, but the administration couldn't act based on the narrow 2020 definition of harassment.

The resulting narratives and fearmongering have contributed to elevated harassment, assaults, and even 17 violent killings of transgender individuals to date in 2024. ( Nex Benedict ) ( Pauly Likens ) ( Jazlynn Johnson )
"The adult dialogue we hear in the media often includes a lot of fear and guesswork about how this issue may impact children in schools. Even the tone of discussions around current policies in the news could influence psychological stress experienced by people who are transgender." ( Michigan Medicine )
"It’s become a common refrain in recent months: Allowing transgender people to use the restroom that aligns with their gender identity will end up letting male sexual predators into women’s bathrooms. Supporters of controversial bills seeking to limit transgender people’s use of public restrooms have repeatedly made that argument. There is little hard evidence to back up this assertion, but LGBT advocates and other opponents of the bills have had to develop a number of counter-arguments to refute it." ( Time )

Title IX & Today's Implications:

The Biden Administration restored protections for victims like the Virginia student with Title IX updates, which took effect August 1, 2024. ( National Women's Law Center )
These updates would have better protected the Virginia victim and given more protections or recourse for students like Nex Benedict. However, as you can see, to stifle protections for LGBTQIA+ students means stifling protections for all students.

Tapping into the emotions from Virginia's case, the membership-based group, Moms for Liberty, which campaigned with Governor Youngkin and is funded by groups affiliated with the 2020 Title IX rollbacks, is using the 2024 Title IX changes to rally a new wave of panic, leading people to think that the 2024 regulations will open the floodgates to more Virginias.
"It's really easy to motivate people to go out and vote because they're angry." ( USA Today )
Moms for Liberty partnered with The Heritage Foundation on Project 2025, which aims to abolish the Department of Education and public schools. They advocate for a privatized education model that asks to use federal funding for private religious schools . Only some private religious schools use federal funding (in some of the states where they have filed a subsequent lawsuit). If those schools receive funding, then they must offer Civil Rights protections and follow Title IX.
Moms for Liberty policies outline a goal to abolish public education and teacher's unions. The Council on National Policy notes they aim to replace public education with free market, for-profit schools, religious schools, and homeschools.
Each state and school board has different Civil Rights protections, which may differ from Michigan's, so how each state reacts to Title IX will differ. If that state's Civil Rights laws differ, then it could be the case that Title IX changes introduce bathroom access or policies for the first time.

The July 2024 Moms for Liberty lawsuit in Kentucky seeks to exclude any current or former member of Moms for Liberty and Young America's Foundation from " the Title IX updates ." If you research how Moms for Liberty positions this, they use this broad phrase because they insinuate that it implies students across America are now at risk like the Virginia girl. The matter is currently working its way through the nation's courts. ( NBC ).
While the Moms give an example of why they don't want the regulations passed, "This means anyone can claim harassment if another person isn't using their pronouns," They do not reference any of the far more likely scenarios , such as someone cat-calling or touching a girl's chest, or making fun of someone's size, which cannot be considered Title IX harassment - unless she opts to stop attending school because of it, participates in cross-examination, and a review sides with her months later.
Moms for Liberty is hiding the broader implications from its members, who may not realize that this injunction is far broader than the pronoun panic and directly affects their ability to protect their daughters like in Virginia (or their boys).

During this injunction and while the matter makes its way through the courts, Moms for Liberty is using this moment as an opportunity to hold membership drives and add the names of their students' schools to lists of districts they are affiliated with so that those districts do not update their Title IX policies. Members encourage community members to speak to their school boards and out against Title IX, including in Michigan.
Here is a legal explanation from Illinois, which, like Michigan, is not listed in the Moms for Liberty suit, but which has Moms for Liberty members adding their schools to a list of Moms for Liberty-affiliated schools.

Either now or pending the outcome of this Moms for Liberty suit, Michigan schools will be responsible for updating their Title IX policies, primarily defining the investigation process ( National Women's Law Center ). Schools need to ensure they are ready to follow through on the increased Title IX protections that apply to all students by responding immediately when there is an incident and following the grievance process.

Why Title IX is Making News:

For obvious reasons, the topic brings Virginia's unique case back into the spotlight. Moms for Liberty are positioning this as a resurgence issue of bathrooms and parental rights during an election year.
Federal changes affect every state differently. If someone reads that a lawsuit in Kentucky is focused on bathrooms, they may think it applies in Michigan. This overview took us days and hours to research, and most articles or school board speeches do not invest this amount of time to sort through the complexities. Misinformation more easily fills the gaps.

Title IX and Boys/Girls Sports in Michigan:

Public attention has also turned to the issue of allowing transgender students to play on the sports team of their same gender. While protections for transgender student-athletes fall under the Title IX umbrella, the U.S. Department of Education said it will release a separate regulation on the topic and it is not part of any current updates. ( WILX )
Regardless, "The MHSAA does not prohibit girls from participating on boys teams. Therefore, the MHSAA will not be involved in matters involving trans male (female to male) student-athletes. When questions arise involving trans female (male to female) student-athletes, the MHSAA executive director will determine eligibility for MHSAA tournaments on a case-by-case basis after being provided at least 30 days before the opt-out due date for that tournament, by the administration of the school for which the student seeks to participate, documentation that answers the following questions. ( MHSAA )
Under the Title IX proposal, schools could limit transgender athlete participation but could not categorically ban them from participating in sports because they are transgender. ( Bridge )
This statement seems to show that MHSAA has already established a policy for the state.

The Bottom Line:

No matter how the federal Title IX regulations settle, schools are responsible for following The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act for bathroom access. Exactly how they have been following this law since early 2023 is a question anyone can ask their local school board. Most provide single-use options.
Separately, since the Moms for Liberty lawsuit doesn't touch Michigan, school boards can update their Title IX definitions of harassment and how they investigate. Delays in Michigan are specifically due to some school board speakers threatening their boards not to take action because they are Moms for Liberty members ( legal explanation ), the public's confusion, and the outcry caused by the Moms for Liberty membership drive. (National Women's Law Center)
If this is still confusing, you're not alone. The way activists are speaking about the issue intentionally creates anti-LGBTQIA panic. This "panic" has contributed to harassment and deaths in Michigan, which led the state to categorize the murder of LGBTQIA+ people as a hate crime and eliminate the "gay panic" defense in criminal trials. ( ACLU ) ( NBC )
This is an evolution of the ongoing attacks on LGBTQIA+ people out of panic (morals vs. data).
It's also an opportunity to point to "bad" public education or school boards not catering to Moms for Liberty whims from other states to build support for a privatized education model, discrimination, and vouchers.

How to Help:

Educate others:

Use this "case study" as helpful perspective. Remember that a mix of political rhetoric and media headlines can create narratives. The news cycle moves fast. After citing the Virginia incident, the public had long moved on and never addressed new facts that emerged. What else are we reacting to without pausing to confirm facts?
Ensure you look at the big and small picture for all topics. Are facts easily Googleable for this and any other school board public comment topics? What organization(s) is the messenger representing, and how do those organizations relate to public education?
If you're a leader, determine what's needed to clear confusion. More proactive communication is often the best solution. People never paid attention to Board policies before, but they are now. Involve your communications leader to explain updates to the public, or have responses ready. This alleviates the need for Board members to try to convey all of this during one meeting.
Share a more precise overview, offering a comparison chart of 2020 vs. 2024 topics, or hosting a community info session that eases confusion with facts.
Remember that most people are not immersed in the laws at all levels and how changes translate, affect them, or could affect them. Break down the facts into bite-sized nuggets, keeping in mind they could be interested because of sensational headlines.
Share these facts wherever you see misinformation and disinformation posted. Respectfully and calmly relay the facts. Reviewing the Truth timeline shows that some people who share fallacies don't even realize they are part of a fearmongering campaign that depends on them to support privatization.

Ask questions if you're concerned:

Write down your questions and send them to your school board or the Title IX coordinator. For example:
What is our current Title IX policy and the proposed changes? How will this district protect students when an incident is reported?
What is our bathroom policy? How has this been going since it was implemented?
Are the community's public comments citing the Virginia case or alluding to this case as if it is the norm to expect? Are they using terms like "gender fluid?"
What data are you allowed to share about general incidents in the schools, such as where most episodes of harassment or assault are taking place?
What is our grievance process?
How do students feel about safety in school? Is there a culture and climate survey? How have we responded to student incidents and complaints, etc?

If you believe a factual edit is required, please email us.