Title IX agreements on shaky ground after Education Department rescinds gender-identity deals

The Education Department took an unprecedented step this week to nullify Title IX agreements previous administrations had made with school districts over gender identity, laying the groundwork for an environment that turns such settlements into political ping-pong. 

The department rescinded six agreements made during the Obama and Biden administrations that required districts to implement policies such as gender discrimination trainings or instructions on preferred names and pronoun usage for transgender students.

The Trump administration said Title IX is based on sex, therefore the enforcement by past administrations was “illegal and burdensome.” 

“Prior Administrations regularly misinterpreted Title IX to pander to political ideology and police ‘misgendering’ despite not having sound legal grounds. With yesterday’s actions, the Trump Administration is upholding the law and righting years of wrongs,” Amelia Joy, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, said Tuesday.

Experts don’t recall a time when agreements were canceled by a new administration.

“This is very rare, bizarre,” said Nikhil Vashee, director of education law and policy at Family Equality, adding, “I think it’s going to cause a lot of confusion.” 

The Obama administration issued guidance in 2016 that federal sex discrimination law protected transgender students. That guidance was rescinded in 2017 by the first Trump administration.

The Biden administration attempted to make significant changes to Title IX by formally expanding nondiscrimination protections to LBGTQ students, putting gender identity and sexuality under the definition of sex discrimination. A federal judge struck down the changes early 2025. 

The Trump administration has not indicated if any more Title IX agreements would be rescinded.

The action could cause districts that enter Title IX agreements to “slow roll their compliance” if they think a future administration could change or rescind the deal, Vashee said.  

Those impacted by the canceled agreements include Cape Henlopen School District in Delaware; Delaware Valley School District in Pennsylvania; Fife School District in Washington; and La Mesa-Spring Valley School District, Sacramento City Unified School District and Taft College, all in California.

The schools indicated that the canceled agreements would not impact their operations. 

“As always, we are committed to providing a safe and supportive learning environment where all students can succeed. We will continue to work collaboratively to ensure our practices and programs support the well-being, growth, and achievement of every student in our District,” Cape Henlopen School District said in a statement. 

As of Tuesday, Taft College said it has not received official communication from the Education Department but that “no further action is required” from its 2023 Title IX agreement with the Biden administration.

While some cheer the Trump administration’s move, they recognize it could create a situation in the future where another administration could use the same tactic to cancel Title IX agreements it does not favor.  

“This is unusual, what the Trump administration had done. And so, we’re obviously realistic that, yes, that could happen,” said Beth Parlato, senior legal counsel for Independent Women’s Law Center.

But Parlato noted Trump rescinded the agreements after a court struck down the Biden administration’s interpretation of Title IX.  

“So while that could happen, I think that you have to look at the entire picture, and Title IX certainly was meant to protect girls and women and not to include” gender identity under the “definition of sex,” Parlato said. 

The Trump administration has started many Title IX investigations into school districts, universities and states for allowing transgender students on girls sports teams and in girls locker rooms.  

And some schools have already agreed to change their policies around transgender athletes, like the University of Pennsylvania.

Others, like Minnesota, are ready to fight back after the Justice Department sued over alleged Title IX violations due to the state’s inclusion of transgender athletes. 

“Donald Trump is currently facing an unpopular war that he launched, rising gas prices, massive health insurance price hikes, and a partial government shutdown caused in part by his ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents killing two Minnesotans in broad daylight. It is astonishing that any president would try to target, shame, and harass children just trying to be themselves, let alone a president with so many actual problems to address,” said Keith Ellison, the attorney general for Minnesota.   

The move by the Trump administration doesn’t only put past agreements into jeopardy but also reduces the strength of future settlements made between schools and the federal government over discrimination cases.  

“This does take away the importance from the resolution agreements. If the message that school districts get is, well, we can enter into it now, but they could just be rescinded based on the political whim of a new administration, like, what force does it actually have then to actually prevent discrimination,” said Shiwali Patel, senior director of education justice at the National Women’s Law Center. 

Patel said the agreements where the Trump administration “has forced schools to actually violate the law and enter into agreements that violate First Amendment freedoms or civil rights protection” should be “rescinded” by a new administration.

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