Connect with us

The Center Square

Louisiana’s Murrill files lawsuit to protect Title IX, female athletes | Louisiana

Published

on

www.thecentersquare.com – By Steve Wilson | The Center Square – 2024-04-29 14:06:00

(The Center Square) — Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced Monday she is leading a lawsuit with Mississippi, Montana and Idaho to fight the Biden Administration’s new Title IX rules.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Western Louisiana, seeks the overturn of the rules on constitutional grounds, an injunction preventing the administration from enforcing Title IX “in accordance with erroneous interpretation” in the rule and attorney fees and court costs. 

The lawsuit says the rule is a “a naked attempt to strong-arm our schools into molding our children in the current federal government’s preferred image of how a child should think, act and speak. The Final Rule is an affront to the dignity of families and school administrators everywhere and is nowhere close to legal.”

The lawsuit also says the new rule will “gut the very essence of Title IX and destroy decades of advances in equal educational opportunities, especially for women and girls.”

“With the stroke of a pen and 400 pages of rules written by would-be lawmakers in Washington, D.C. conference rooms, the DOE published Title IX regulations intended to remake American societal norms through classrooms, lunchrooms, bathrooms and locker rooms of American schools,” Murrill said at a Monday news conference with Gov. Jeff Landry. “Make no mistake: These rules eviscerate Title IX. They are entirely contrary to what Title IX was intended to achieve and what we have implemented and intended Title IX to mean and protect for 50 years.

“Title IX was intended to prevent pervasive discrimination against biological women.”

She also said the federal government’s overreach was like a degree and dimension “like no other.” 

“Whatever lever, whatever power the governor’s office has or the statutes vest in me, we will 100% be standing behind this Legislature, this attorney general and behind the BESE board because we do not intend to comply,” Landry said. “We are not going to pretend there is some kind of sexual category other than the ones the Almighty has set forth. There’s only two of them. We look forward to this fight because this fight is right.”

Louisiana Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley, who was flanked by some members of the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, said that this was a “line in the sand issue and a bridge too far for the state of Louisiana” and voiced his support for the lawsuit. 

Title IX prohibits educational institutions that receive federal funds from discriminating on the basis of sex in both educational programs and activities.

The new rules finalized by the Department of Education and which are supposed to go into effect Aug. 1. expand the definition of sex discrimination to include gender identity and pregnancy, but the agency didn’t issue any rules relating to transgender athletes. Among the changes include a prohibition on single-sex bathroom and locker rooms and requirements that a school use pronouns based on a student’s preferred gender identity. 

Read More

The post Louisiana’s Murrill files lawsuit to protect Title IX, female athletes | Louisiana appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com

News from the South - Tennessee News Feed

Lee featured in new ad from the American Federation for Children | Tennessee

Published

on

www.thecentersquare.com – By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square – 2024-12-23 13:57:00

SUMMARY: Tennessee Governor Bill Lee is promoting school choice through a new television ad for the American Federation for Children. Alongside state legislators, he introduced a bill to expand a school choice program, currently piloted in Davidson, Hamilton, and Shelby counties. Lee emphasizes that “freedom” is essential for education in Tennessee, supporting the Education Freedom Act that empowers parents and invests in public schools. However, the Hamilton County Board of Education opposes the bill, citing a lack of demonstrated student outcome improvements and recommending the retention of pilot program limitations to assess effectiveness and accountability for private schools and homeschool programs.

Read the full article

The post Lee featured in new ad from the American Federation for Children | Tennessee appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com

Continue Reading

News from the South - Florida News Feed

Florida gas prices remain below the national average | Florida

Published

on

www.thecentersquare.com – By Steve Wilson | The Center Square – 2024-12-23 10:53:00

SUMMARY: Two days before Christmas, Florida’s average gas price stands at $2.99 per gallon, slightly below the national average of $3.04, which is nine cents lower than last year. The lowest prices in Florida are found in Okaloosa County at $2.72, while the highest are in Suwannee County at $3.22. In metro areas, Fort Walton Beach-Crestview has the lowest average at $2.74, and West Palm Beach has the highest at $3.16. Nationally, Oklahoma offers the cheapest gas at $2.55, whereas Hawaii has the highest at $4.53.

Read the full article

The post Florida gas prices remain below the national average | Florida appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com

Continue Reading

News from the South - Louisiana News Feed

Gas prices drop around Christmas time in Louisiana | Louisiana

Published

on

www.thecentersquare.com – By Jacob Mathews | The Center Square – 2024-12-23 10:44:00

SUMMARY: Gas prices in Louisiana are lower this Christmas compared to months ago and last year. The average price for regular gas is $2.69 per gallon, down from $3.12 last year. Houma-Thibodaux has the highest prices at $2.74, while Monroe boasts the lowest at $2.55. State averages for mid-grade, premium, and diesel are $3.11, $3.49, and $3.19, respectively, all lower than a month ago. Diesel saw the biggest drop, down nearly 50 cents from last year. Current prices are significantly lower than the 2022 highs of $4.55 for regular and $5.37 for diesel.

Read the full article

The post Gas prices drop around Christmas time in Louisiana | Louisiana appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com

Continue Reading

Trending