What does it mean anyway?
{A Letter from a Solid Rock Parent}
If you have been paying attention this past year, Biden announced his new Title IX rules that went into effect on August 1st, 2024 and is currently being challenged in the court systems by several states ( not Illinois). As a parent with kids in school, I pay attention to things in all aspects of private, public, and college education alike. I am not the expert, I am just a mom trying to understand the spiritual warfare out there. I urge you all to seek out information for yourselves.
Let me try to put Title IX in the simplest terms possible.
- Title IX was started in 1972, as a Federal civil rights law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities.
- The general idea is this:
- No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
- All public and private elementary and secondary schools, school districts, colleges, and universities receiving any Federal funds must comply with Title IX.
- Added things to Title IX in the latest round.
- Every School Must Have And Distribute A Policy Against Sex Discrimination.
- Every School Must Have A Title IX Coordinator.
- Every School Must Have And Make Known Procedures For Students To File Complaints Of Sex Discrimination.
- Here is the fact sheet of 2024 Title IX Final Overview.
So, what could that mean for state-funded schools out there?
Title IX is not new, but with anything, the rules and application has been evolving and changing over the years. This latest round of changes are concerning, especially for the Christian believer.
- What “sex” means has changed a ton over the last 4+ years. The 2020 Title IX educational laws have been expanded to also encompass sexual orientation and gender identity.
- This means sex does not just include female and male anymore.
- Sex now means Sexual Identity.
- Both of the above do not mimic Biblical truth.
- Biden’s administration states that “all students” can access schools in a safe, welcoming, and places that respect their rights”.
- Title IX further takes away parents rights about protecting their kids on the basis of the “rights” of fellow students.
- “All definitions of sex” have to be accepted in a federally funded school or funds will be withheld.
- The new regulations place a lower burden of proof for the survivors / students alleging sex discrimination, and puts a higher burden on the school administration to disprove it.
What does that mean for Solid Rock Christian Academy?
- We choose not to be accredited by the state! This is huge. We receive NO federal or state funds, therefore we don’t have to abide by those rules.
- We can actively follow our Statement of Faith in our school that aligns with our Biblical worldview.
What is on my heart as a mom?
I pray for schools everywhere. I pray for parents, for grandparents, school board members, teachers, and really the students in all situations. While this doesn’t mean changes for us at Solid Rock Christian Academy, we still bear the burden of discipling our children (entreating them to follow Jesus) at this time, for this reason. We can pray for our country, for administration changes, and for parents to rise up everywhere and to be active where God calls them.
A couple scriptures have come to my mind. One is about how God called Esther and like Esther, we have been called for such a time as this (Esther 4:14). He also has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).
Sincerely,
A Solid Rock Parent
Esther 4:14:
“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
2 Timothy 1:7:
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
