Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Vice-Chair Mary Miller (R-IL) sent a letter to Catherine E. Lhamon, Assistant Secretary of the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education, to slam the agency for its apparent indifference on the importance of Congressional oversight. Previously, the lawmakers sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on the administration’s flawed reinterpretation of Title IX following the assault of two female students—at two separate Loudoun County schools—by a biological male classmate.
In the letter, Reps. Foxx and Miller write: “We write to follow up on our October 18, 2021, letter to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. In that letter, we raised substantial concerns about, among other things, the Department of Education’s (‘Department’) misguided interpretation of Title IX, two sexual assaults in Loudoun County Public Schools (‘LCPS’), government officials’ targeting of concerned parents, and LCPS’ apparent noncompliance with Title IX. It took the Department until July 15, 2022—nearly nine months later—to respond. Not only were the Department’s responses to our letter woefully late, but they were also minimally responsive.”
Reps. Foxx and Miller continue: “As you know from the previous letter, a 14-year-old biological boy wearing a skirt entered a girls’ bathroom at Stone Bridge High School in LCPS on May 28, 2021, and sexually assaulted a ninth-grade girl. Then on October 6, 2021, the boy sexually assaulted a second girl at Broad Run High School, the LCPS’ school to which he was transferred after the May 28, 2021, assault. This situation is a clear example of the dangers of perpetuating your ill-advised interpretation of Title IX.”
Reps. Foxx and Miller conclude: “Taking into account what we knew about LCPS’ handling of the two sexual assaults, we asked Secretary Cardona to ‘provide information demonstrating whether or not Loudoun County Public Schools ha[d] complied with the Civil Rights Data Collection.’ … Second, we asked Secretary Cardona whether the Department ‘plan[ned] to initiate an investigation of Loudoun County Public Schools to determine if the school district is out of compliance with Title IX.’ You failed to directly answer the question, which could imply a lack of interest or concern about what transpired in LCPS.”
Read the full letter here.
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