Millions of dollars in federal funding for New York City\u2019s magnet schools are in jeopardy after the White House told the nation\u2019s largest school district that it must re-evaluate its policies regarding transgender students \u2014 including ones that allow students access to sports and bathrooms matching their identities.<\/p>\n
Both the federal education department and the mayor\u2019s office confirmed that a letter sent to the city this week said the district had until 5 p.m. Friday to comply, but the city has given no public indication of whether it plans to comply by then.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the latest step the Trump administration has taken to roll back legal protections<\/a> and resources previously granted to LGBTQ+ people across the country. Similar letters were also sent to officials in school districts in Chicago and Fairfax County, Virginia, about policies regarding gender and race that the Trump administration alleges violate anti-discrimination laws.<\/p>\n The city education department told Gothamist New York stood to lose $15 million. The education department has a $41 billion budget this year.<\/p>\n New York City\u2019s guidelines<\/a> for trans and gender-expansive students mandate that schools allow students to access bathrooms and the opportunity to compete in sports teams, among other activities, that correspond with the students\u2019 gender identities.<\/p>\n But the federal education department, under Trump and his education secretary, Linda McMahon, asserts that such policies violate of female students\u2019 civil rights under Title IX, the landmark civil rights law that since 1972 has prohibited sex-based discrimination in any education program that receives federal funding. It alleges the policies create a hostile environment for other students made to share sex-segregated spaces with transgender students.<\/p>\n The deadline comes the same week that Mayor Eric Adams vowed to change the school district\u2019s policy on bathroom access<\/a>, citing safety concerns and saying that \u201cthe average parent \u2014 particularly if their child is a girl \u2014 would agree with me.\u201d<\/p>\n The city education department declined to comment on the matter and referred a reporter to the mayor\u2019s office which simply said it was reviewing the letter.<\/p>\n Kei Williams, who heads NEW Pride Agenda, described the move by the Trump administration as an example of \u201cextremely reckless, callous and hateful rhetoric.\u201d The organization lobbies for legal protections for LGBTQ+ people across the state.<\/p>\n \u201cStudents are going to school to learn,\u201d Williams said. \u201cHaving to mandate that you\u2019re able to utilize the restroom of your gender identity, of your gender expression is the least that you can do. That is the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n