Following the U.S. departments of Education and Justice issuing their “joint guidance” to public school districts across the country regarding the application of Title IX to transgender students, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had a strong message for the Obama administration:
Don’t mess with Texas.
“I announced today that Texas is fighting this,” he wrote on Twitter Friday morning, just minutes after the guidelines were sent to local schools. “Obama can’t rewrite the Civil Rights Act. He’s not a king.”
As of this writing, the Governor’s Office has yet to release any specifics about how Abbott intends to fight the effort. However, as the former attorney general, he hasn’t shied away from suing the federal government.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made headlines earlier in the week by demanding the resignation of Fort Worth Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Kent Paredes Scribner after the latter unilaterally implemented a transgender bathroom policy. Scribner, who has been on the job for about a year, “lost his focus and thereby his ability to lead,” Patrick said.
“He has placed his own personal political agenda ahead of the more than 86,000 students attending 146 schools in the district by unilaterally adopting ‘Transgender Student Guidelines,'” he said. “Without any discussion with parents, board members, principals, and other community leaders, Dr. Scribner’s unilateral action, underscores this lack of fitness to hold his position as superintendent.
“Campus safety should be of paramount concern for anyone in his position. Every parent, especially those of young girls, should be outraged. The state of Texas has an affirmative responsibility to provide a safe environment in the schools where attendance is compulsory.
“While this may be an example of the need for the Legislature to pass a meaningful School Choice Bill, we must not allow the actions of Dr. Scribner to go unnoticed or unanswered. I call upon the parents within the Fort Worth ISD to take immediate steps to repeal this stealthy scheme and remove Dr. Scribner from his post.”
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