DeVos vows to withhold desegregation aid

WASHINGTON >> The Education Department is preparing to withhold millions of dollars from Connecticut schools over their refusal to withdraw from an athletic conference that allows transgender students to compete on teams that correspond with their gender identity.

The move to withhold about $18 million intended to help schools desegregate could have national implications for both transgender athletes and students of color.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights has warned officials at three Connecticut school districts that it will not release desegregation grants as planned Oct. 1 unless the districts cut ties with the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference over its transgender policies. Negotiations among the parties continued Thursday evening.

Officials with the conference, which governs high school athletics in the state, say their policies conform to Connecticut law.

The five-year grants totaled about $45 million, and the remaining $18 million was destined for districts in New Haven, Hartford and southeast Connecticut that operate magnet schools under a federally approved voluntary desegregation plan. The money generally allows students from Black and Hispanic communities to attend high-performing schools outside their neighborhoods.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has championed similar school choice programs for decades, and President Donald Trump has highlighted the issue in his reelection campaign.

Some district officials said withholding money to coerce schools into withdrawing from an athletic conference was the administration’s most forceful move yet to end protections for transgender students.

“It’s effectively extortion,” said New Haven’s mayor, Justin Elicker.