A federal appeals court has reinstated lawsuits from two Virginia school districts challenging the Education Department’s threats to withhold funding over their policies for transgender students. The ruling overturns a lower court’s decision that had dismissed the cases, allowing the Fairfax and Arlington County school boards to proceed with their legal challenges. The dispute centers on federal pressure to alter local policies regarding student access to facilities and participation in sports. The decision marks a key development in the ongoing debate over educational equity and federal oversight in public school policies.
A split federal appeals court panel on Thursday revived two Virginia school boards’ lawsuits against the Education Department challenging threatened federal funding changes over their policies concerning transgender students. It wipes a judge’s finding that school boards in Fairfax County and Arlington County — located in the suburbs of the nation’s capital — sued in the...
