# data[].attributes.headline
Legal and Ethical Issue of Interest to Me

# data[].attributes.subject
Legal and Ethical Issue of Interest to Me

# data[].attributes.body
I chose the topic transgender rights because I am a member of the community and I want to research different ways I can be an advocate for students and their rights. I believe that this is a sensitive subject for a lot of people, whether you are transgender, an ally, or someone who's beliefs are different. There must be a common ground that is reached to satisfy everyone without denying the rights of someone.

# data[].attributes.body
In my search of the Angelo State University Library, I found a journal article that talked about the current bathroom laws in the school system, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Admendment, and the Title IX of the Education Act of 1972.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Angelo State University - Library Online Resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Unauthorized use is prohibited; Usage may be subject to security testing and monitoring; Misuse is subject to criminal prosecution; No expectation of privacy except as otherwise provided by applicable privacy laws.

# data[].attributes.headline
Researching Transgender Rights in the School System

# data[].attributes.subject
Researching Transgender Rights in the School System

# data[].attributes.body
When I searched the internet on this topic, I located TransEquality.org and found a lot of resources about the rights of transgender students in the school system. It talked about transgender students being protected by Title IX.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
National Center for Transgender Equality

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
If you or someone close to you has experienced bullying or discrimination, you can start by talking about it with your school and district officials. Contact your school district and find out about its nondiscrimination and anti-bullying policies. Many schools are willing to work with transgender students to find a solution once they understand what's going on. You can find some tips about how to talk to your school and resources that you can show them on NCTE's School Action Center at www.transequality.org/schoolaction.

If your school district still refuses to treat you with respect, we encourage you to contact the national offices of GLSEN or your state ACLU chapter. They can help you figure out the next steps that are right for you. They might help you find other ways to reach out to your school administrator or your school district, bring media attention to your issue, or take other actions.

In some cases, you may consider filing a lawsuit against your school. Filing a lawsuit might be complicated and you will probably need to get a lawyer to help you. While NCTE does not take clients or provide legal services, you can find a list of LGBT-friendly legal groups here.

You can also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education. The Department of Education is responsible for enforcing Title IX, the federal law that makes it illegal for schools to discriminate against transgender students.

If you want to file a complaint with the Department of Education, here are a few things you should know:

File as soon as possible. You need to file a complaint within 180 days of when the discrimination or bullying and harassment happened. If you file a complaint late, explain why and ask for an exception to the deadline.

When the complaint form asks what kind of discrimination you've faced, select "sex."

Complete the entire form. Incomplete complaints won't be investigated. If OCR needs more information in order to process the complaint, it may contact you for more information.

Provide details. Include in your complaint as many details as you can about the people and events involved, and when and where events occurred.

Complaints are confidential. Information about your complaint will not be shared without permission.

The person who experienced the discrimination doesn't need to be the one who files the complaint. Family, friends, school staff, or others can file a complaint.

The school can't take action against you because you filed or participated in a complaint.

In addition to filing a complaint with the federal government, you might also be able to file a complaint with your state education department or human rights agency. Many state laws or policies protect transgender students from discrimination. You can find information about some of these policies on NCTE's School Action Center.

# data[].attributes.headline
What I Learned About Transgender Rights in Schools

# data[].attributes.subject
What I Learned About Transgender Rights in Schools

# data[].attributes.body
After researching transgender rights in schools, I learned that transgender students are protected from discrimination under the Title IX Act. Title IX is a federal law that makes sex discrimination illegal in schools. Transgender students have the right to be treated as their gender identity, referred to by their preferred names and pronouns that match their gender identity, not be bullied or harrassed because they are transgender or gender nonconforming, to use the bathroom and locker room that matches their gender identity and not be forced to choose differently, be provided the same opportunities as other students, the right to dress according to their gender identity, and the right to have their privacy protected concerning their gender identity.

There are several laws that protect transgender students such as, Title IX, the Equal Access Act, which requires all student organizations to be treated equally, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which protects personal information about students in school records, and the First Amendment, that protects students freedom of speech and expression ("Schools National Center for Transgender Equality", 2018).

# data[].attributes.body
Benner, K. (2018). Federal Prisons Roll Back Rules Protecting Transgender People. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/11/us/politics/justice-department-transgender-inmates-crime-victims.html?rref=collection/timestopic/Transgender issues

Bradshaw, C., & O'Brennan, L. (2017). NEA- The Importance of School Climate. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/63900.htm

Cook, G. (2018). Generation Why | National School Boards Association. Retrieved from https://www.nsba.org/newsroom/american-school-board-journal/asbj-june-2018/generation-why

Schools National Center for Transgender Equality. (2018). Retrieved from https://transequality.org/know-your-rights/schools

Vercelletto, C. (2018). DeVos tells Senate schools shouldn't become ICE enforcement zones. Retrieved from https://www.educationdive.com/news/devos-tells-senate-schools-shouldnt-become-ice-enforcement-zones/525152/

Walsh, M. (2018). Courts Take Expansive View in Transgender-Rights Cases. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/06/06/courts-take-expansive-view-in-transgender-rights-cases.html?qs=transgender

# data[].attributes.body
An article on the Education Drive talked about how schools should respond to current ICE raids and what school are legally able to do to protect their students. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos stated that schools cannot report undocumented students after previously saying that it was the schools decision to report or not report. It is policy that the U.S. Department of Immigration is not allowed to captured any undocumented immigrants in "sensitive areas", such as schools (Vercelletto, 2018).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Dive Brief:

Asked at a Tuesday Senate hearing if school staff could report undocumented students to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos replied, "I don't think they can," Chalkbeat reports.

DeVos previously commented at a House hearing that it was "a school decision" whether to report undocumented students to ICE, which prompted responses from civil rights groups that the statement stood in opposition to Plyler v. Doe, a 1982 ruling that schools must educate undocumented students .

On Tuesday, however, DeVos mentioned Plyler, though Chalkbeat reported that she also sidestepped several opportunities to reply "yes" or "no" to the undocumented student question. Her spokesperson, Liz Hill, said, "She did not avoid the question and was very clear schools are not, and should not ever become, immigration enforcement zones."

Dive Insight:

The ever-changing, highly charged political landscape has left administrators and educators stymied over what they legally can and cannot do when it comes to undocumented students. Thornier still are the practical and ethical issues swirling around the situation.

The official policy of the U.S. Department of Immigration is that it can't undertake enforcement action in "sensitive areas." These include places of worship, hospitals, funerals, weddings and schools. That said, civil rights activists have called out immigration authorities for making arrests in neighborhoods near schools, thus pushing undocumented students away from classrooms.

When administrators provide information to district families on their rights under federal, state and district policies, it may be worth keeping in mind that legal experts maintain that referring to a school as a "sanctuary" may be taken literally. That could cause families to believe schools can give them greater legal protection than is actually the case.

For instance, in Clark County, Nev., and several other districts, administrators limit ICE school access by processing requests through a district lawyer or the superintendent's office. Yet, as required by law, the school authorities will assist agents if called upon to do so, reports Education Week. ICE is a federal agency with legal authority to enforce immigration law, so there could be situations in which they can gain access to a school after making a strong enough case that it's necessary.

Back in 2004 in Albuquerque, N.M., Border Patrol Agents questioned undocumented students at a school, resulting in a suit from the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund and subsequent settlements. Now, Albuquerque officers are prevented from "stopping, questioning, detaining, investigating, or arresting" minors on or in the vicinity of public school grounds.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
DeVos tells Senate schools shouldn't become ICE enforcement zones

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Asked at a Tuesday Senate hearing if school staff could report undocumented students to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos replied, "I don't think they can," Chalkbeat reports. DeVos previously commented at a House hearing that it was "a school decision" whether to report undocumented students to ICE, which prompted responses from civil rights groups that the statement stood in opposition to Plyler v.

# data[].attributes.body
I found an interesting article in Education Week that talked about the growing support that transgender rights are receiving. Federal courts are ruling in favor of transgender rights in the school system, ensuring that transgender students are not being discriminated against and receiving equal rights as their peers. These rulings go against the opinions of the Trump administration on the issue (Walsh, 2018).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Rulings trend against emerging Trump position

Two recent federal court rulings add to the growing body of decisions that find legal protections for transgender students in federal antidiscrimination laws and that run counter to the views emerging from President Donald Trump's administration on the issue.

In late May, a federal appeals court refused to block a Pennsylvania school district's policy of permitting transgender students to use the restrooms or locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. One unusual aspect of the case involving the Boyertown Area School District is that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, in Philadelphia, ruled unanimously from the bench, about a half hour after hearing oral arguments on May 24, to reject an injunction sought by a group of students who contend the district's pro-transgender policy harms their privacy.

The court issued a brief written order the same day stating that a formal opinion would follow but that it was embracing the reasoning of the federal district judge in the case, who had rejected the privacy arguments of the students opposing the Boyertown district's transgender-inclusive policy.

Earlier that week, on May 22, a federal district judge in Virginia ruled in favor of a female-born transgender teenager, Gavin Grimm, who challenged his school district's policy of barring him from using the restrooms for males.

"This court joins [other federal district and appellate courts] in concluding that claims of discrimination on the basis of transgender status are per se actionable under a gender stereotyping theory under Title IX" of the Education Amendments of 1972, said the decision by U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen of Norfolk, Va., in the case involving the Gloucester County, Va., school district.

The judge also found that the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection of the law applied to transgender students.

"Since the new administration came into office in 2017 and began revoking guidance [on transgender legal protections under Title IX], court after court has held that the statute itself protects trans people and LGB [lesbian, gay, and bisexual] people from discrimination, and that you don't need that agency guidance," said Joshua A. Block, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBT and HIV Project, who represents Grimm.

Seeking Further Clarification

The Trump administration did not file briefs in the Boyertown or Gloucester County cases (nor in other pending transgender cases). But a range of actions since Trump took office in January 2017 have fueled the view that the administration does not support an interpretation of Title IX that covers transgender discrimination.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos told a House education committee hearing on May 22 that court precedent was mixed on the issue of legal protections for transgender students and that neither the U.S. Supreme Court nor Congress had settled the question.

"That is not an area where law has been clarified," DeVos said. "I am not going to make up law from the Department of Education."

In early 2017, the Trump administration rescinded Education Department guidance issued under President Barack Obama that interpreted the department's Title IX regulations to require schools to allow transgender students to use the restroom and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. This past February, the department indicated that its office for civil rights will no longer investigate complaints from transgender students related to restroom discrimination.

However, DeVos has repeatedly said that all students, including transgender students, deserve protection from bullying and unfair treatment in schools.

While the Trump administration has not yet fully formalized its views on the protection of transgender students under Title IX, there are other clues about the direction it is headed.

Wave of Rulings

Just as there has been much litigation over Title IX and transgender students in recent years, there has been a wave of lower court rulings interpreting the protection against sex discrimination in employment in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to cover cases of bias against gay workers.

In a case involving a gay employee of a New York state skydiving company who alleged discrimination by his employer, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, in New York City, ruled in February that "sexual orientation is a function of sex and, by extension, sexual orientation discrimination is a subset of sex discrimination."

The U.S. Department of Justice under Trump filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case arguing that discrimination based on sexual orientation is not sex-based bias covered by Title VII.

"An employer who discriminates based on sexual orientation alone does not treat similarly situated employees differently but for their sex," the administration's brief argued. "Gay men and women are treated the same, and straight men and women are treated the same."

The skydiving company on May 30 filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. The legal analysis of sex discrimination in Title VII has been influential for those courts that have ruled on Title IX and transgender students as well.

In ruling in the Grimm case in May, Judge Wright cited Title VII more than 20 times as she held that Title IX prohibition against discrimination "based on sex" in federally funded education programs encompasses bias against transgender students.

"Allegations of gender stereotyping are cognizable Title VII sex discrimination claims and, by extension, cognizable Title IX sex discrimination claims," Wright said.

The ACLU's Block said that while Wright's decision clears the way for a trial in Grimm's case, the main issue of dispute between the parties is the legal question that the judge decided-that Title IX protects transgender students against discrimination.

While Grimm's case is an example of a transgender student challenging what he views as an oppressive school policy, the Pennsylvania case is an example of the main other type of lawsuit in this area: one brought by students claiming that pro-transgender school policies harm their privacy to use facilities among peers of their same birth gender.

"Sex in federal law has always referred to the biological difference between men and women," said Christiana Holcomb, a lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based legal organization that backs several student privacy lawsuits around the country. "Those courts that have ruled to the contrary are out of step with the plain meaning of Title IX."

Holcomb and the ADF are representing four students in the Boyertown district who object to a policy, adopted during the 2016-17 school year, of allowing transgender students to use facilities consistent with their gender identity.

In court papers, the ADF argued that the school district's policy favored "a subjective continuum of genders" that "eliminates the law's longstanding respect for the anatomical differences between the sexes."

"We're trying to protect the privacy rights of every student, including transgender students and our clients," said Holcomb. "School districts have a duty to protect the privacy and dignity of everyone in their schools."

Mara Keisling, the executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, an advocacy group based in Washington, said "the trends in the courts are absolutely clear: They are ruling again and again with us."

"School districts have to deal with the reality that trans students exist," she said. "They have to operate within the reality that there is a Title IX, and it's very, very clear based on decision after decision that trans people are covered by it. Most schools are doing the right thing."

Published in Print: June 6, 2018, as Courts Take Expansive View In Transgender-Rights Cases

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
Back to Top

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Courts Take Expansive View in Transgender-Rights Cases

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Two recent federal court rulings add to the growing body of decisions that find legal protections for transgender students in federal antidiscrimination laws and that run counter to the views emerging from President Donald Trump's administration on the issue.

# data[].attributes.body
National Education Association (NEA) "Bully Free: It Starts With Me"

Upon reviewing NEA's website, I came across a program intended to identify and intervene bullying and advocate for bullying victims in school systems. I believe this is primarily a hot topic because of the consistent school shootings and youth suicides that continuously occur.
The program has various components that are meant to help with bullying. One of the focuses was developing a healthy school climate to aid in the prevention of bullying and promote healthy student development. Every school and districts focus should be on how they can be better advocates for those who are struggling with bullying and mental health issues, especially counselors on every level.
http://www.nea.org/home/63900.htm

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Prepared for the National Education Association

The purpose of the NEA Bully Free School Climate Summit was to bring together researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and other key education stakeholders who share the National Education Association's (NEA) commitment to keeping students safe and supported.

Specifically, the Summit focused on the critical role that a positive school climate plays in the prevention of bullying and the promotion of positive youth development. The goals of the Summit were threefold:

(1) pinpoint the various components of school climate and their relevance to youth violence and bullying prevention;
(2) discuss ways to measure school climate;
(3) provide concrete ways to improve school climate through school-wide programs and interventions.

The National Education Association brought together researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and other key education stakeholders to discuss and frame the critical role that school climate plays in the prevention of bullying for a day-long summit during National Bullying Prevention Month.

The National Education Association brought together researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and other key education stakeholders to discuss and frame the critical role that school climate plays in the prevention of bullying for a day-long summit during National Bullying Prevention Month.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The purpose of the NEA Bully Free School Climate Summit was to bring together researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and other key education stakeholders who share the National Education Association's (NEA) commitment to keeping students safe and supported. Specifically, the Summit focused on the critical role that a positive school climate plays in the prevention of bullying and the promotion of positive youth development.

# data[].attributes.body
Upon completion of my Masters of Education in Guidance and Counseling, I will be employed as a school counselor in middle or high school and obtain my LPC.

# data[].attributes.headline
National School Board Association (NSBA)

# data[].attributes.subject
National School Board Association (NSBA)

# data[].attributes.body
While reviewing the NSBA's site for legal and ethical issues, I came across an article in the American School Board Journal that covered student's rights to speech. This article was in response to the Parkland High School shootings and the students outrage and pushback about gun laws.
I believe that these movements are crucial in the development of students being heard when they speak out about their concerns and safety. As a future school counselor, I believe that this is a huge step with students to exercise their rights to speak about the concerns they have that will help them with student development and ensure their safety.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
American School Board Journal | National School Boards Association

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
NSBA represents state school boards associations and their more than 90,000 local school board members. We believe education is a civil right, and public education is America's most vital institution.