Superintendent stands by criticism of non-discrimination policies | Regional News

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CASPER State Superintendent of Public Instruction Brian Schroeder strongly maintains that the US Department of Agricultures update of its non-discrimination policies have forced states to comply with the Biden Administrations agenda, according to a Wednesday statement from the Wyoming Department of Education.

Superintendent Schroeder strongly objects to this latest example of federal overreach and will continue to lead Wyomings effort to push back against Washington DC, the statement says.

The US Department of Agricultures Food and Nutrition Service announced May 5 that it would reinterpret the prohibition of discrimination based on sex in Title IX and in the 2008 Food and Nutrition Act to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The USDAs announcement didnt come out of the blue. In 2020, the US Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County that the prohibition on sex discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act covers discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In January, President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation. The order directs government agencies to review all existing orders, regulations, guidance documents, policies, programs, or other agency actions and consider changing them if they dont align with the amended protections under Title VII.

The USDAs policy change means that any organization that gets money from the Food and Nutrition Service has to investigate allegations of discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation and update their non-discrimination policies and signage to include prohibitions against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual guidance, the USDA statement says.

On Friday, nearly a month after the USDA announcement, Schroeder denounced the USDA changes in a statement released by the state Department of Education, saying that the reinterpretation of its non-discrimination policies is part of the federal governments ever-relentless agenda of social engineering .

Its not clear why Schroeder suddenly made the announcement.

Wyoming Department of Education spokesperson Linda Finnerty said in a Monday email that the department didnt have further comment about this at the time.

Schroeder implied that the reinterpretation could impact funding for student meals if schools dont comply with the updated non-discrimination policy.

I only hope that We the People have the stomach to stand up to it, because it wont stop until the people say enough, he said in the Friday statement.

The Department of Education statement from Wednesday says that Schroeder and the department will proceed with caution and prudence going forward to maintain the flow of federal funds to support children in Wyoming.

It also calls for action from the Legislature:

Until the Wyoming Legislature takes substantive action to allocate state funds to cover the numerous federally-funded programs in Wyoming, the (Wyoming Department of Education) has little choice but to work within the framework mandated by politicians in Washington DC

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