Betsy DeVos was the former Education Secretary and spoke out about the rumored Title IX plans of the Biden administration, just days before the 50th-anniversary celebrations for civil rights law.
President Richard Nixon signed Title IX of the Education Amendments Act on June 23, 1972. It prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions receiving federal funds.
No person from the United States may be denied or excluded from any educational program or activity that receives Federal financial aid due to their sex.
DeVos stated Wednesday, “it’s an essential law, one we must continue protecting.”
Parents are worried about the draft rules that the Biden administration has proposed. These include a revision of the definition of “sex” to make it more inclusive and understandable as “gender” (or “gender identity”). ”
As education secretary, DeVos stated that Title IX’s protections of sex adhered to the definitions of “biological sex” male or female. DeVos noted that “expanding the definition would go too far. ”
She stated, “That they would attempt to expand the definition of biological sex via rulemaking process is really too far.” “And I hope that many people will speak up if these rumors prove true. ”
Fairfax, Virginia parents called Fox News Digital last week to express their concern about the school board’s decision to increase penalties for students who “misgender” their classmates.
Tyler Ohta, founder of Moms for American Values said that the most concerning thing about the vote was the punishments. They are currently discussing the possibility of giving suspensions to children as young as fourth grade. These rules will apply to children starting in kindergarten.
DeVos admitted that some of these developments were “very troubling.”
“They’re also getting a ton of pushback from people who are concerned about protecting women’s sports in particular, and protecting the very important due process protections that we ensured were a part of the whole Title IX requirements for how institutions must handle these issues,” she added.
Students will have greater due process rights when the Biden rules take effect. DeVos is the education secretary and issued a rule giving students accused of harassment greater rights and requiring that the harassment be proven to be persistent.
She said that she had issued a final rule to acknowledge that we can continue fighting sexual misconduct without abandoning core principles like fairness and presumption of innocence.
“The rumored portions of Biden’s plans give us all great worry,” DeVos said, noting that Obama’s “far-left” efforts had “destroyed many youth lives due to flawed methods.”
“We went methodically through constructing a rule that very clearly sets up a framework that’s fair, that’s balanced, that respects the rights of both individuals in a party with an issue,” she said.
First Lady Jill Biden and tennis legend Billie Jean King joined an All-American high school track athlete to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX Wednesday.
