Title IX Should Protect the Girls It Was Written to Serve

The U.S. Department of Education has released a final rule formally removing the Biden administration's 2024 Title IX regulations from the federal rulebook. The September 28 action restores the earlier regulatory text after courts struck down the 2024 rule and the department returned to enforcing the 2020 framework.

That is a welcome correction. A law protecting students from discrimination on the basis of sex should give women and girls confidence that their opportunities matter. Schools should be able to recognize the difference between male and female students and explain why that difference matters in the programs and facilities they provide.

Women and Girls Must Remain at the Center

Title IX protects access to education without discrimination on the basis of sex. Its purpose becomes difficult to defend if schools grow unwilling to acknowledge the very distinction the law addresses.

A girl should be able to raise a concern about her privacy or athletic opportunity and receive a serious answer. School officials have a responsibility to consider what a policy requires of female students. They should be willing to explain how those students' interests are being protected, even when doing so brings criticism from advocates who want a different approach.

The Rulebook Should Reflect the Rules in Force

The department's action brings the published regulations into line with the framework it has already been enforcing. The 2024 text remained in the Code of Federal Regulations even after the court decisions that invalidated it.

Parents should not need to trace a series of lawsuits to understand which federal rules their school is following. Removing invalidated language makes that task more straightforward. It also gives school leaders reason to check whether their own materials accurately describe the rules that apply.

Respect for Students Includes Respect for Girls

Schools should treat every student with dignity. Female students belong within that responsibility, including when their concerns are inconvenient for administrators.

Protecting a girl's privacy should be an ordinary part of running a school. Preserving meaningful opportunities for female athletes should be a priority for the people overseeing school sports. Girls should not have to apologize for asking adults to recognize that sex matters in these settings. Their interests deserve a place in school policy from the beginning.

Missouri Schools Should Take That Duty Seriously

The federal correction gives Missouri school leaders an opportunity to examine their own commitments. Families should expect clear explanations of how their schools protect girls and respond when those protections are challenged.

Her Health Her Future supports schools that recognize biological reality and preserve opportunities for female students. The adults responsible for those schools should be prepared to defend that work. A girl walking into a classroom, a locker room, or a school athletic program deserves to know that her own rights count.

Link to story: Department of Education final rule: Recodification of Title IX Rules

Link to story: House Education and Workforce Committee response