School culture wars come to Capitol Hill

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WASHINGTON — Three superintendents defended their districts’ inclusion policies — concerning topics such as LGBTQ+ affirming practices and curricula that reflect diverse student populations — at a spirited House hearing Wednesday.

While lawmakers on both sides of the aisle stressed the need to support increased reading and math proficiencies and stronger family-school collaborations, much of the three-hour hearing before the Education and Workforce Committee focused on politically divisive topics like student gender transitions and pronoun use.

“When classrooms become vehicles for political or ideological agendas, rather than places of learning — the students need to learn to compete in this world — Congress has a responsibility to ask questions,” said committee Chair Tim Walberg, R-Mich., during the Republican-organized hearing entitled “Breaking Trust: Attacks on Parental Rights, Inappropriate Content, and Legal Abuses in America's Schools.”

Walberg said the committee invited the superintendents to testify to “explain policies in their district that sideline parents, compromise student privacy rights and fuel radical ideology.”

Committee Democrats, however, said they would rather meet to discuss improving academic achievement and school safety, along with efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

“I’m disappointed that the majority has once again decided to ignore the concerns of parents, instead to focus on the divisive culture wars, with the hope of scoring cheap political points,” said Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., ranking member of the committee.

 

Superintendents address LGBTQ+ student policies

The three superintendents who testified included Macquline King, superintendent and CEO of Chicago Public Schools — who was subpoenaed to appear after declining the invitation because of scheduling conflicts; Aaron Spence, superintendent of Virginia’s Loudoun County Public Schools; and Maria Su, superintendent of San Francisco Unified School District. 

The Trump administration has opened investigations or compliance reviews into all three school districts for alleged civil rights violations under Title IX or Title VI. During the hearing, Spence, King and Su maintained that their school districts follow all local, state and federal laws.

Committee members questioned the superintendents regarding specific policies in their districts that apply to LGBTQ+ students.

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., asked King and Spence about sleeping arrangement policies for overnight field trips that “allow biological males” to sleep near “biological females.” 

King said that consideration is done on a case-by-case basis if a student is transitioning and if they have gone through an eligibility process.

Spence said, “It’s appropriate and lawful for transgender students to be able to be treated as their consistently identified gender. It’s also appropriate and important that we acknowledge that our policy says that parents can seek alternatives to that if they have those concerns.”

When Foxx asked the superintendents if any of their teachers ever lied to a parent about pronouns their child uses at school, they all said they were not aware of such incidents.

“In San Francisco, we embrace all of our students. We welcome them as they are in our schools, because we fully believe that creating a safe, respected, and supported environment is how our students will be able to learn,†Su said.

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., said where transgender students go to the bathroom is not a top concern for parents. 

Instead, schools should be safe for all students, Bonamici said. “Parents should be able to send their kids to school knowing that the school will keep them safe, and it is the legal obligation for them to do so,” Bonamici said.

When Bonamici asked the superintendents about their top concerns in their districts, they answered: budget cuts, improving academic rigor and providing sufficient student services.

An important or divisive conversation?

Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., asked King about Chicago Public Schools’ approach to parental rights for accessing children’s student records. 

Miller referred to recent America First Legal complaints against CPS, San Francisco Unified School District and Loudoun County Public Schools filed with the Trump administration ahead of Wednesday’s hearing. The complaints, which seek federal investigations into the districts, allege the districts conceal student gender transitions from parents and withhold that information from families. 

“Hiding things from parents is not valuing the parents,” Miller said.

King said CPS does not hide information from parents. “It is our goal to always work with our students, families, and schools.”

Johnathan Smith, managing director of education and federal strategic advocacy at the National Center for Youth Law, testified about the benefits of inclusive schools. 

“When we fail to provide a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment in our schools, we harm students,” Smith said. “Exclusionary policies have driven a troubling increase in incidents of racial harassment against Black students and other students of color, and to a large increase in anti-LGBTQI hate crimes and bullying in our K-12 schools.”

At the end of the hearing, Walberg called the conversation important. “The same-old same-old isn't producing the quality we need in education to stay ahead of the world and to be that beacon in the world we need to be.”

Scott disagreed, however, saying the hearing focused on “injecting culture war debates in the classrooms.” He added, “Republicans are only deepening the partisan divides that do nothing to improve student outcomes or safety.â€