The Trump administration's Department of Education has opened Title IX investigations into three of Maryland's largest school districts, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, and Frederick County, as well as the Maryland State Department of Education itself. The trigger: school policies that allow transgender students to participate in sports and use facilities that match their gender identity.

These districts serve more than 340,000 students combined. If the federal government moves to strip Title IX funding, the consequences fall not on administrators or policymakers but on students. Federal funding supports free and reduced-price lunch programs, special education services, Title I schools serving low-income families, and English language learner programs. Every child in these districts stands to lose.

Maryland's State Board of Education established these protections through a lawful regulatory process. The districts followed state guidance. They are not in defiance of the law; they are complying with Maryland law. The federal government is now using the threat of funding cuts to override a state's own student protection policy, a textbook example of federal overreach into local education.

Transgender students are among the most at-risk young people in American schools. Research consistently shows that inclusive policies reduce depression, suicidal ideation, and school absenteeism in transgender youth. Stripping those protections does measurable harm.

We urge Secretary Linda McMahon and the Office for Civil Rights to close these investigations, respect Maryland's authority to protect all its students, and stop using federal funding as a weapon against school districts that are doing their job.