Louisiana school board president blasts feds on transgender rule
Louisiana's top elected official for schools blasted the Obama administration's directive on the bathroom rights of transgender students Friday (May 13), calling it federal overreach. But Jim Garvey, the Metairie Republican who is president of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, then washed his hands, saying it's up to local school boards to decide what to do.
His statement came after the U.S. Education and Justice departments sent an advisory letter telling public schools across the country that they must let transgender students use the restroom that the student prefers -- or risk losing federal funding. The letter came in the middle of a court case with North Carolina, which passed a law requiring students to use the restroom that corresponds with the gender on their birth certificate.
In addition to Garvey's statement, 32 Louisiana lawmakers sent a letter urging state Attorney General Jeff Landry to opine on both the federal advisory and Gov. John Bel Edwards' April executive order protecting transgender state employees and agency clients from discrimination. Landry plays no role in determining Louisiana education policy but takes a conservative stance on gay and transgender issues.
Louisiana schools received more than $1.1 billion from the federal government this year, Education Department spokesman Ken Pastorick said. The money pays for everything from tutoring to lunch to preschool.
Another strong reaction came from the Louisiana Family Forum, the state's strongest religious conservative group, which immediately launched the "Protect Louisiana Children" project. President Gene Mills said the Obama policy was "insane" and called on Landry to push back.
But otherwise, most Louisiana education officials and advocates took a distinctly cautious stance -- or said nothing at all.
Too soon to say
Edwards and Education Superintendent John White refused to weigh in on the federal advisory. Both sent statements from spokesmen saying they were reviewing the guidance and that it seemed only to clarify existing law: Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on gender.
Garvey, who is a lawyer, disagreed. By his reading, Title IX did not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. "If Congress now wants to get the federal government involved in our local schools' bathroom issues, it could pass an amendment to that legislation that would include such language," he said.
However, Garvey said his first impression was that his board could not control local school systems' policies on transgender students and bathroom use because "the Louisiana Constitution and law prohibits BESE from getting involved in day-to-day level operations" of school systems.
The St. Tammany and Jefferson public school systems are reviewing the guidance, spokeswomen said. Jefferson Parish Public Schools policies prohibit bullying and harassment based on sexual orientation, but do not mention gender expression. St. Tammany policy is less specific, saying no one will be discriminated against on the basis of sex as per Title IX.
Orleans public school officials did not answer questions about whether they would implement the federal guidance. The Orleans Parish School Board has protections for transgender students, specifying that they cannot be harassed based on "gender identity or expression" or sexual orientation. However, 76 of the city's 82 public schools are charters that set their own policies.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans, whose schools receive some federal money, did not have answers Friday about how they would treat the advisory.
Scott Richard, director of the Louisiana School Boards Association, said it would be premature to issue any guidance now. He plans to meet with White and lawyers, he said, and to see what the Louisiana Legislature and national school boards association have to say -- and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court, if the North Carolina case ends up there.
Richard acknowledged that with the state in a budget crisis, and local taxes suffering in some areas, the possibility of losing federal money caused trepidation. More broadly, he said transgender restroom access "really hasn't been a hot topic. Everything's been consumed by the budget."
However, he said, "As we evolve as a society, it's an area that school boards and all local governmental bodies will have to address more directly."
Hollis Milton of West Feliciana, head of the state superintendents association, said fortunately the directive was timed so that districts had "a small window to see where they are as far as policies, procedures and communication for the coming school year." Most Louisiana public schools let out for the summer this month.
Arguments and reasoningEven examined closely, Edwards' statement was mild. Spokesman Richard Carbo said the governor would work with the Louisiana Education Department "to meet our shared goal of fostering a safe, non-discriminatory environment for our children."
Pastorick, speaking for the education superintendent, went a small step further. "Louisiana's children deserve to be treated fairly, no matter their race, sex or gender identity," he said. He also reframed the federal directive as a family matter, saying it would "require schools to grant specific rights to children based on the gender identity listed by their parents."
Writing to Landry, the 32 lawmakers said they "strongly believe that every person deserves respect and dignity as a human being, endowed with inalienable rights and inestimable value by their Creator." However, "at the same time, we believe that keeping the sexes separate for the purposes of bathroom and locker room access, for example, is important for the privacy and safety of the children and adults of our state."
Small-government conservatives frequently contend that the Obama administration has overstepped its bounds. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory said so this week over the restroom fight. It's what former Gov. Bobby Jindal said in 2014 when he sued the U.S. Education Department to try to get rid of the Common Core mathematics and English standards.
And that's why it sounded distinctly odd coming from Garvey. He was pro–Common Core in 2014. But on Friday, he tried to walk that back.
"The last time that the executive branch of the federal government overreached its authority and got involved in local school issues, with Common Core, things did not work out well at all," Garvey said. "Louisiana has spent a lot of time and effort over the last 3 years fixing the problems that were created by that federal and presidential overreach. And we are still not finished working to fix those problems."
Garvey's board has approved new standards that lightly edit Common Core.
Across the U.S., reaction ran the gamut, according to local news reports. Many officials issued cautious non-responses similar to those of Edwards and White. More liberal states such as California and Massachusetts cheered. But Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called the directive "blackmail" and vowed to reject about $10 billion in federal money rather than let a child born male use the girls' bathroom, according to the Associated Press.
http://www.nola.com/education/index....restrooms.html