Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Education policy

Biology vs identity: SCOTUS to rule on transgender athlete bans
Fox News, Approved, National

Biology vs identity: SCOTUS to rule on transgender athlete bans

By Paulina Dedaj , Bill Mears , Shannon Bream | Fox News Oral arguments centered on 2 cases in Idaho and West Virginia are expected to be heard in the fall The Supreme Court decided Thursday to review state bans on transgender athletes participating in public school sports. Oral arguments will likely be heard later this fall regarding two cases in Idaho and West Virginia. Both cases are focused on state laws that prevent biological males from competing on girls’ and women's sports teams. West Virginia, which enacted the "Save Women’s Sports Act" in 2021, is appealing a lower-court ruling that allowed transgender athlete Becky Pepper-Jackson to compete on the school’s cross-country and track teams. This past year, Pepper-Jackson qualified for the West Virginia gir...
UPenn caves to Title IX truth: Women’s sports get apology, restored records
Fox News, Approved, National

UPenn caves to Title IX truth: Women’s sports get apology, restored records

By Jackson Thompson | Fox News School will issue public statement adopting biology-based definitions and apologize to female swimmers affected by trans athlete FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday that the University of Pennsylvania has agreed to a resolution with President Donald Trump's administration to keep biological male trans athletes out of women's sports, in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. The department previously launched an investigation into UPenn on Feb. 6 for Title IX violations that occurred in the swimming program. Trans athlete Lia Thomas competed for the women's team in the 2021-22 season, after previously competing for the men's team.  "Today, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) announced the...
D-11 school board votes to adopt policy requiring sports participation based on biological sex
Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

D-11 school board votes to adopt policy requiring sports participation based on biological sex

By Grace Brajkovich | Denver Gazette During a special meeting on Wednesday, Colorado Springs' District 11 became the second El Paso County school district to approve a new policy requiring students to participate in school sports based on their biological sex. The D-11 Board of Education voted 6-1 to approve policy JBA-Preserving Fairness and Safety in Sports, which will classify sports teams as either “male, men or boys,” “female, women or girls” or “coed, mixed or open.” This will ensure that students aren’t allowed to participate in sports, be present in locker rooms, or lodge in hotels with the opposite biological sex.    Board Director Julie Ott cast the only dissenting vote.  "This policy is illegal. It goes against Colorado law. This poli...
Enos: Colorado’s war on parental rights isn’t over—it’s escalating
Approved, Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Commentary, State

Enos: Colorado’s war on parental rights isn’t over—it’s escalating

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado Colorado is on a roll. Violating religious liberty and compelling free speech are two issues that Colorado Courts have already been reprimanded for. Our Courts lost two civil rights lawsuits – Masterpiece Cake Shop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission and 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis – in addition to being overturned by the United States Supreme Court in the decision that was supposed to throw Donald Trump off the 2024 Colorado Presidential Election ballot. Now, we are doing it all over again. On Friday, May 16th, Governor Polis quietly signed HB25-1312, Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals, into law. There was no ceremony or statement from the Governor, just an administrative signature. When...
Two investigations signal Education Department’s pivot from Pride Month to Title IX enforcement
Approved, Daily Wire, National, State

Two investigations signal Education Department’s pivot from Pride Month to Title IX enforcement

By Mary Margaret Olohan | Daily Wire The news bears a stark contrast to the June celebrations of President Joe Biden's Education Department. WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump’s Education Department has declared June “Title IX Month” in recognition of the 53rd anniversary of the historic legislation’s passage, The Daily Wire has learned. The department will spend June highlighting the Trump administration’s actions taken to protect female sports and spaces, as well as reversing the weaponization of Title IX that took place during the previous administration. The festivities offer a stark contrast to the Biden Education Department’s “Pride Month” celebrations, which focused on gender ideology, critical race theory, and DEI. The Daily Wire can also first report that the Education ...
Schaffer’s ‘unsafe school choice’ policy gets new life under Trump
Approved, Education Week, National

Schaffer’s ‘unsafe school choice’ policy gets new life under Trump

By Evie Blad | Education Week When the Trump administration urged states to use a little-known provision in federal education law to boost school choice, the congressman who helped author the language 24 years ago had an immediate reaction. “It’s about time,” said former Congressman Bob Schaffer. In a May 7 letter, Acting Assistant Education Secretary Hayley B. Sanon urged states to ease their criteria for labeling schools as “persistently dangerous"—a designation that legally comes with an obligation to offer families an option to transfer to another public school. “The number of persistently dangerous schools reported nationwide appears low particularly given the number of violent offenses in schools reported” in federal data, she wrote. It’s a message that Schaffer, ...
Polis backs federal halt after his own AI law faces fierce blowback
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Polis backs federal halt after his own AI law faces fierce blowback

By Bente Birkeland | Colorado Sun Business and industry groups have been begging for a delay. They say the law as it stands is unworkable — they’re urging Colorado’s lawmakers to give all sides more time to try to find a compromise. Nine months: that’s all the time left before companies have to start complying with Colorado’s first-in-the-nation anti-discrimination law for AI systems, unless policymakers act. Business and industry groups have been begging for a delay. They say the law as it stands is unworkable — they’re urging Colorado’s lawmakers to give all sides more time to try to find a compromise. But consumer rights advocates say AI’s rapid spread into more and more areas of life makes it critical to put guardrails on how the technology is working. Many advocates for th...
Sencenbaugh: DEI and CRT may sound noble, but they’re driving academic mediocrity in schools
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Sencenbaugh: DEI and CRT may sound noble, but they’re driving academic mediocrity in schools

By Robert Sencenbaugh | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice If you are on the left or the right, Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in the average classroom does not look like one tends to believe. Both are far more subtle. Thus, any debate on these issues devolves into both sides yelling at one another with neither actually listening. During a House Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) declared, “We can stop with the nonsense because K-12 was not teaching critical race theory…in our country K-12 is not learning critical race theory. Just for those who are unfamiliar.”  Having taught in both Texas and Colorado, I can tell you that she is not being completely honest. While she is correct ...
Money matters: Colorado lawmakers pass bill adding financial literacy to graduation requirements
Approved, Post Independent, State

Money matters: Colorado lawmakers pass bill adding financial literacy to graduation requirements

By Andrea Teres-Martinez | Post Independent Colorado just became the 27th state to turn financial literacy courses into a graduation requirement after the bill passed the Senate with a vast majority vote on Wednesday.  The bipartisan bill’s third reading passed with 55 yes votes and 10 no — a noticeable uptick in support from when the bill was first introduced. House Bill 25-1192 requires that all Colorado high school students complete a personal finance literacy course at some point in their four years in order to graduate. High school graduation requirements and curriculum are traditionally set by local school districts, while academic standards are set by the state. However, the bill gives districts control over when and how the course is implemented so long as the...
School board in El Paso County moves to restrict transgender athletes, citing safety and fairness
Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

School board in El Paso County moves to restrict transgender athletes, citing safety and fairness

By Ann Schimke | Colorado Sun At an April school board meeting near Colorado Springs, debate raged over a proposed policy to ban transgender students from playing on school sports teams that match their gender identity. A high school student named Sadie, who spoke against the policy, asked why her district would need a blanket policy when a tiny percentage of student athletes are transgender. A 60-year-old man who supported the policy and described himself as stronger than any woman in the building claimed a transgender girl could slam a ball into a girl’s head hard enough to put her in the hospital. A father opposed to the policy said his son, a district student, has an extra X chromosome and suggested gender is more complicated than it seems. He said of the proposed policy...