May 18, 2016
The Mississippi Department of Education http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2016/may/13/obama-administration-issues-guidance-schools-prote/">said Friday that they would adhere to http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2016/apr/08/policy-analysts-hb-1523s-religious-refusals-could-/">Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as well as the joint guidance issued that day by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice to curb discrimination against trans students in order to "provide a safe and caring school environment" for Mississippi's students. A May 18 statement from state superintendent Dr. Carey Wright, however, is now directing the state's Department of Education to take no action.
"Pending a discussion with the Mississippi State Board of Education, I am instructing the Mississippi Department of Education to follow the lead of state leadership and take no action at this time regarding the non-regulatory guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education," Wright said in the press release.
This is a day after a http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2016/may/17/mississippi-gop-reps-superintendent-should-oppose-/">letter from Mississippi House Republicans yesterday called for Wright to step down from her position if MDE honored the White House directive to protect transgender students, claiming that the "policy of allowing boys or men into bathrooms and locker rooms with girls poses a threat to the safety and well being of every school-aged girl in this state."
Gov. Phil Bryant also asked MDE Friday not to follow the directive, calling it the “president’s social experiment.
Sierra Mannie is an education reporting fellow for the Jackson Free Press and The Hechinger Report. Read more at jfp.ms/education.
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