DOJ Investigates 36 Illinois Districts on Title IX Compliance

The U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division announced on April 30 that it has opened investigations into 36 Illinois public school districts to determine whether they included sexual orientation and gender identity content in preK-12 classes without notifying parents of their right to opt children out of such instruction.

The probes also examine whether the districts limit access to single-sex facilities, including bathrooms and locker rooms, and girls' sports teams based on biological sex. Officials stated the investigations assess compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs. The districts receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal taxpayer funding annually.

"This Department of Justice is determined to put an end to local school authorities keeping parents in the dark about how sexuality and gender ideology are being pushed in classrooms," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement. "Supreme Court precedent leaves no doubt parents have the fundamental right and primary authority to direct the care, upbringing,...