Will Betsy DeVos Enforce Title IX? Civil Rights Advocates Worry Protections Will Be Gutted

The National Women’s Law Center on Wednesday urged Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to enforce Title IX, which bars sexual discrimination in schools and fights sexual assault.

“All students deserve to learn in safe environments, free from gender-based violence and harassment, which is why we want you to enforce Title IX,” the group said in a letter it sent DeVos because it was unable to reach her by phone.

The missive ends in a postscript: “You should check your voicemail. It’s full.”

Civil rights advocates have expressed fears DeVos won’t enforce Title IX, which became law in 1972 and expanded in 2011 to fight sexual assault on campus, as she searches for programs she considers unnecessary or outside the purview of the federal government.

“When it comes down to it, education and the provision of education is really a state and local responsibility to a large extent,” DeVos said in a recent radio interview in her homestate of Michigan.

The department has a $68 billion annual budget. With cuts to elementary and secondary school programs targeted in 2015, Education Week reported there are fewer small programs for DeVos, a proponent of school choice, to ax in her drive to reduce the size of the department. Some $107 million is allocated for civil rights programs.

The Obama administration confronted such issues as racial disparities in school discipline and transgender student rights. Civil rights advocates fear federal oversight of such issues could disappear under DeVos, Education Week reported.

During her confirmation hearing, Devos declined to say whether she would enforce Title IX, saying, “It would be premature for me to do that today.”

ThinkProgress noted DeVos has a history of donations to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which opposes laws to prevent campus sexual assault and provides lawyers for students under investigation. Nearly 20 percent of female college students report being raped or sexually assaulted annually.

Mahroh Jahangiri, executive director of Know Your IX, has said schools regularly “shirk” their obligation to prevent sexual harassment and violence on campus or to address it when it does occur.

“The Department of Education’s work has been essential in holding schools accountable and helping ensure that students know about — and therefore, are able to advocate for — these rights,” Jahangiri said in a statement.