Staff Reports
Oklahoma Schools Directed not to Comply with Biden’s Title IX Rewrite
The Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters, has instructed all local school districts in the state to not adhere to the revisions made by the Biden administration to Title IX, citing concerns for the safety of women. Walters has expressed his disapproval of the controversial Title IX overhaul, which broadens the definition of sex to include claimed gender identities, labeling the rewrite as “illegal” and noncompliant with Oklahoma law.
Walters emphasized his stance, declaring, “In Oklahoma, we don’t bend to the senseless will of Biden and his posse eradicating women’s rights and putting women in danger.” He asserted that the new Title IX changes could allow males to enter female locker rooms, dorms, and bathrooms, compromising the safety and privacy that women should enjoy in these spaces.
Moreover, Walters urged other states to follow the example set by Oklahoma in opposing the Title IX changes, calling for state leaders to stand against the erasure of women’s rights and the jeopardization of their safety.
Oklahoma State Superintendent of Schools, Ryan Walters, throws down and instructs school districts not to comply with Biden’s changes to Title IX.
It is unclear what repercussions he will use for those that ignore his directive. @RyanWaltersSupt: love the rhetoric, but need… pic.twitter.com/a8IIusOYqX
— CommiesOnCampus (@CommiesOnCampus) April 24, 2024
The Biden administration recently finalized rules governing Title IX, rolling back several protections established during the Trump administration and introducing gender theory into school policies, such as permitting boys to use girls’ restrooms as young as elementary school.
Walters cautioned the superintendents about the potential consequences of the new rule, expressing concerns that it could abolish single-sex extracurricular activities and lead to the elimination of gender-specific locker rooms and restrooms, traditionally maintained for safety and privacy reasons. He also warned that rejecting the use of “preferred pronouns” for transgender-identifying children could be considered a Title IX violation under the new rules.
In response, Walters offered legal and policy support to the school districts to avoid compliance with the revised Title IX. Additionally, he sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, denouncing the rule changes as “the most devastating attack on women’s rights in our country’s history” and calling for him to resign if he does not reconsider the modifications.
Walters urged Cardona to reverse the new rules, conveying his belief that Cardona had the choice between advancing a radical ideological viewpoint that would harm women or doing what is right for them. He urged Cardona not to sacrifice women’s rights in an effort to cater to the most extreme faction of his party.
The Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
