Today, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) announced that it will be elevating its Title IX investigations into the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) to the Title IX Special Investigations Team (Title IX SIT), which is comprised of both the Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice.
This action follows a development this past weekend in Minnesota, where a male athlete from Champlin Park High School competing in a girls’ MSHSL softball match dominated the competition, leading Champlin to a state championship.
In February, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened a Title IX investigation into MSHSL over its stated intentions to flout federal law and instead follow state policies which allow student-athletes to compete in sports based on their ‘gender identity.’ On June 3, OCR opened a Title IX investigation into the Minnesota Department of Education after receiving a complaint alleging that MDE has policies which permit males to participate in female sports and occupy female-only intimate facilities. Both investigations are today being elevated to the Title IX SIT.
“The Trump Administration has a duty to protect women and girls and uphold federal civil rights, and I am pleased to partner with Attorney General Pam Bondi to elevate the Department’s investigations in Minnesota to the Title IX Special Investigations Team,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Minnesota’s continued indifference to females’ civil rights is completely unacceptable. We must ensure women and girls are not stripped of their hard-earned accolades or subjected to the danger and indignity of unfair competitions, and we will fight to restore antidiscrimination protections under Title IX to the fullest extent of the law.”
This month, the Department of Education announced that it is recognizing June as ‘Title IX Month’ in honor of the fifty-third anniversary of Title IX being signed into law on June 23, 1972, and to highlight women’s rights to equal educational opportunities.
Background:
On April 4, amid a staggering volume of Title IX complaints, the Department of Education and the Department of Justice announced the Title IX Special Investigations Team to streamline investigations and expedite enforcement.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and its implementing regulation prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.