The New Politics of Civil Rights In Schools: Submit or Lose Funds

The Trump administration is so far using TItle IX as the principal weapon to attack public schools:  principally against school districts with gender-neutral bathrooms.  But  its use of civil rights laws could soon expand to using Title VI laws and regulations to go after schools on race-related matters. 

That's the view of education and civil rights expert R. Shep Melnick, professor of American Politics at Boston College and co-chair of the Harvard Program on Constitutional Government. In conversation with Louis Freedberg. Melnick provides a primer on what Title IX and Title VI actually say  -- and how the Trump administration is building on their expansive interpretations by the Obama and Biden administrations.  

What sets the Trump administration apart from previous administrations is that itseems intent on cutting off funds to school districts that don't comply with often impossible demands --without any serious effort to negotiate settlements with them. That has not happened to any significant extent since the 1960s when school districts refused to integrate after Brown V. Board of Education.  In this lively discussion, we look at strategies for school leaders for handling threats to school funding that are likely to increase in intensity in the coming months and years.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Setting the Legal Landscape
• 2:55 Title VI and Title IX Explained
• 5:45 From Athletics to Gender Identity
• 8:30 Why Higher Ed Became Target One
• 11:20 Transgender Policies and Legal Uncertainty
• 15:10 Regulatory Roots of Today’s Crackdowns
• 18:35 Guidelines, Rulemaking, and Executive Orders
• 22:05 Fight or Settle: Institutional Dilemmas
• 26:05 Funding Cutoffs as a Political Weapon
• 30:10 Due Process Shortcuts and Harvard Case