Education Week - January 18, 2023 - 3

Vol. 42 * Issue 17 * January 18, 2023
Judge: Trans Girl Athletes
Can't Compete in W.Va.
The new year hasn't rung in much support for transgender rights
in schools. In the second defeat in a week, a federal district judge
has upheld a West Virginia law that bars transgender athletes from
competing in girls' school sports in the state.
The Jan. 5 ruling by Judge Joseph R. Goodwin is an about-face from his
2021 decision blocking the law at a preliminary stage, permitting a then11-year-old
transgender girl to compete in girls' cross country and track.
In his 2021 decision, Goodwin said Becky Pepper-Jackson was
being excluded from school athletics " on the basis of sex " in likely
violation of the equal-protection clause of the Constitution and Title
IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
But his new decision this month held that it was " constitutionally
permissible " for the West Virginia legislature to limit participation in
school and college sports to classifications based on " biological sex. "
West Virginia " is permitted to legislate sports rules on this basis
because sex, and the physical characteristics that flow from it, are
substantially related to athletic performance and fairness in sports, "
the judge said.
Goodwin rejected Pepper-Jackson's arguments that the availability
of puberty blockers used in the gender-transition process put transgender
girls in the same legal definition as cisgender girls.
The judge suggested the legislature had provided a " solution in
search of a problem " since no transgender girl had sought to participate
in female sports in the state before it passed the law. But there
was insufficient evidence that the body had acted with animus toward
transgender people in passing the law, he said.
The West Virginia decision comes barely a week after a federal appeals
court upheld a Florida district's policy of separating restrooms
by " biological sex " and barring transgender students from using
facilities consistent with their gender identity.
Court Sides With Teacher
Rebuked for 'MAGA' Hat
In a case brimming with symbols of tensions about the nation's divisions
over politics and racial equity, a federal appeals court has upheld
the right of a teacher to bring his " Make America Great Again "
hat to racial-bias and cultural-sensitivity training sessions.
In the court's view, a school principal who discouraged him from
bringing the hat bearing the slogan, which many people see as racist
code, likely violated the teacher's free speech rights.
" Next time I see you with that hat, you need to have your union
rep, " Caroline Garrett, the principal of Wy'east Middle School in
Vancouver, Wash., told 6th grade science teacher Eric Dodge in 2019,
according to court papers.
" Principal Garrett went beyond criticizing Dodge's political
views, " a unanimous three-judge panel said late last month. " She
suggested that disciplinary action could occur if she saw Dodge with
his hat again by referencing the need for union representation. ... It is
hardly controversial that threatening a subordinate's employment if
they do not stop engaging in protected speech is reasonably likely to
deter that person from speaking. "
The panel suggested that a case involving a teacher wearing a
MAGA hat in the classroom would raise other legal considerations.
Court papers say Dodge arrived for the training session wearing
his MAGA hat but removed it when he entered the building. Still,
he displayed it at his table or on top of his backpack. The session's
leader saw the hat and reported to Garrett that she felt intimidated
and traumatized. A few teachers were upset as well.
Garrett asked Dodge about the hat after the session. He told her
he wore hats to protect his head from the sun but that he liked the
MAGA hat's message. He said he was not trying to provoke a reaction
at the training session with the hat.
The principal told him some perceived the hat as a symbol of " hate
and bigotry " and he should use " better judgment " in the future. The
next day, Dodge brought the hat to another session. Another teacher
texted Garrett, and the principal confronted Dodge later in the day.
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EDUCATION WEEK | January 18, 2023 | www.edweek.org | 3
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Education Week - January 18, 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Education Week - January 18, 2023