Pressure mounts to finalize Title IX regs

Jan 02, 2024

Driving the day

THE HEARING YOU MIGHT’VE MISSED — Three university presidents’ responses to antisemitism on campus sucked all the air out of the Capitol during the more than five hour House hearing on Dec. 5.

But that same day, in the same building, a House Oversight subcommittee was scrutinizing the Biden administration’s plan to codify a new Title IX rule on athletics eligibility that would make sweeping bans on transgender student sports participation illegal. Lawmakers on the left slammed Republicans for attempting to further ostracize transgender people through the hearing, while GOP members criticized the rule over safety and fairness in competition, and “eliminating” women’s sports.

— The Republican-led hearing followed the Education Department’s further delay in releasing its long-awaited final Title IX rules that would also overhaul a Trump-era policy on how schools must respond to sexual misconduct on campus. Democrats and several advocacy groups have pressed the Biden administration to finalize the rules and have criticized the repeated delays. The rules are now expected in March.

— There is growing pressure from some advocacy groups. Advocates rallied outside the White House during the hearing demanding the administration to finalize the rule — a campaign promise President Joe Biden ran on and could present some issues for him in 2024.

— “What I'm hearing from students is immense frustration, feeling deprioritized and, frankly, deep concerns about what this is going to mean in terms of the youth vote and the election,” said Emma Grasso Levine, manager of Know Your IX. “Biden has positioned himself historically as a champion for women's rights, but for survivors it really feels like a slap in the face to many folks to have this take this long.”

— An Education Department spokesperson reiterated its March timeline and added that the administration “remains resolute in our commitment to support all students and ensure they receive a quality education free from discrimination.”

“In the meantime, we continue to enforce Title IX consistent with existing law that protects students on the basis of sex, including LGBTQ+ students,” the spokesperson said.

— Meanwhile, conservative groups who are against the department’s transgender sports rule dominated the December hearing. They say the department’s delay in releasing the final rule could signal some disagreement over the regulations or that the department is working to insulate its rule from legal challenges that are expected.

— “We don't think that they're legally capable of doing it,” said May Mailman, a senior fellow at the Independent Women's Forum, about the legality of the department’s sports rule. “There is no authority to mandate anything on the basis of gender identity under federal law.”

IT’S TUESDAY, JAN. 2. WELCOME TO WEEKLY EDUCATION. LET’S TALK ABOUT THE NEW FAFSA. Have you filled it out yet? What’s the experience like? Drop me a line at bquilantan@politico.co m. Send tips to my colleagues Mackenzie Wilkes at mwilkes@politico.com, Juan Perez Jr. at jperez@politico.com and Michael Stratford at mstratford@politico.com. And follow us: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro.

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Congress

AN EYE ON FEDERAL SPENDING NEGOTIATIONS — Expect lawmakers to resume negotiations on federal spending bills when they return to Washington next week. The clock is ticking for some appropriations areas covered by a continuing resolution set to expire on Jan. 19, thanks to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s “laddered” continuing resolution.

But this is Morning Education, so of course your POLITICO team is keeping an eye on the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill, which is covered by a continuing resolution that expires on Feb. 2. We’ll be watching what negotiations are going on as lawmakers tangle over the details. (Anything we should know or priorities we should keep a close eye on? Email your host: bquilantan@politico.com)

— Where did we leave off in 2023? House Republicans punted on bringing Labor-HHS-Education to the floor for a vote in November. The rule for the bill, H.R. 5894, allowed for 146 amendments to be considered at the time. But Labor-HHS-Education had several conservative riders on issues like diversity, abortion and gun control. The difference between the House and Senate measures was also the largest by dollar value of any of the bills.

— The topline we left off on: Under the proposal, the Education Department would receive $67.42 billion in discretionary funds. This would be $12.18 billion below fiscal 2023 funding and $22.59 billion below the White House’s budget request.

— Significant cuts and policy riders: The measure would also eliminate funding for the Federal Work-Study Program and another program that provides childcare to students in higher education, among other programs that Republicans have argued are unnecessary. The bill would also block the department from implementing its Title IX rules, borrower defense and new income-driven repayment plan, and allowing delays of student loan repayment. Read more on what’s in the bill from POLITICO’s Jordan Williams.

— Lawmakers now are continuing talks on a fiscal 2024 funding framework, since they left the Hill in December without an agreement on overall spending levels. The hang-ups: proposed severe cuts to non-defense spending and how to handle controversial riders. A full-year stopgap is also a nonstarter for Democrats and some Republicans who have rejected Johnson’s fallback plan to extend a continuing resolution through the rest of the fiscal year.

K-12

PUBLIC CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS? — Conservative legal groups, Christian conservative groups and groups aligned with Leonard Leo, the financial architect of the conservative legal movement and Federalist Society co-chair, are rallying around an effort to create a public Catholic school in Oklahoma.

— The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma’s St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School would be the nation’s first religious school entirely funded by taxpayers. St. Isidore already received preliminary approval from the state’s charter school board in June. If it survives legal challenges, the school would open the door for state legislatures across the country to direct taxpayer funding to the creation of Christian or other sectarian schools.

— With St. Isidore, conservative activists are hoping to create a challenge to change the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the First Amendment’s separation of church and state. Conservatives are eager to embrace St. Isidore as a legal test case, but liberals are wary given the conservative makeup of the Supreme Court. More from Heidi Przybyla.

Higher Education

FTC SUES GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY — The Federal Trade Commission last week filed a lawsuit against Grand Canyon University and its leader Brian Mueller for allegedly engaging in deceptive advertising practices. The FTC said GCU deceived prospective doctoral students about the cost and course requirements, and about the school’s nonprofit status.

—The FTC’s complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Arizona says the school used abusive telemarketing calls to try to boost enrollment at GCU, deceived prospective students about the total cost of GCU’s accelerated doctoral programs and deceptively marketed the school as a nonprofit.

— "Grand Canyon deceived students by holding itself out as a non-profit institution and misrepresenting the costs and number of courses required to earn doctoral degrees," said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. "We will continue to aggressively pursue those who seek to take advantage of students."

— GCU has been in a long-running fight with the federal government over its move to try to convert from a for-profit to a nonprofit institution and deceptive marketing practices. The Trump administration in 2019 ruled the Education Department would continue to treat GCU as a for-profit university under federal education law, even though the Internal Revenue Service had recognized it as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity.

— The Education Department in October also slapped GCU with a $37.7 million fine after it accused the Phoenix-based school of deceiving thousands of students about the cost of its programs. The fine was the largest ever penalty of its kind against a university. GCU is appealing the fine.

On The Calendar

*Crickets* Did we miss anything? Email educalendar@politicopro.com.

Syllabus

— Laws on book challenges, ‘indoctrination’ create culture of fear in Arkansas school libraries: Arkansas Advocate

— New FAFSA launches after a long delay — but with ‘some minor issues,’ Education Department says: CNBC

— At these schools, Arab and Jewish students share their feelings, with each other: The New York Times

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