WASHINGTON _ The Trump administration was set Wednesday to reverse an Obama-era directive aimed at preventing discrimination against transgender students, casting the decision as one respecting states' rights.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters to expect new guidance from the departments of Education and Justice late Wednesday, while downplaying a report of infighting over whether to go ahead with the reversal.
Last May, amid a national debate that grew from North Carolina's so-called bathroom law, the departments issued guidance specifying that Title IX requirements _ which forbid schools that receive federal fund from discriminating on the basis of sex _ also extended to students' gender identity.
Under those new guidelines, the schools were required to treat transgender students according to their stated gender identity, and allow either access to restrooms and locker rooms for the gender they identify with or provide private facilities if requested.
The Department of Education separately issued a best-practices guide that included examples from school districts that had already implemented specific policies on transgender students.
The Obama administration contended that the guidance did not constitute new federal regulations or requirements, but simply represented its interpretation of existing law in response to requests for clarity from school districts and state education agencies.
"It certainly was not a mandate and was never described as such by the administration," then-White House spokesman Josh Earnest said last summer. "Our goal has been from the beginning to provide for the safety and security and dignity of students all across the country."
Implementation of the guidance was uneven; it was challenged in court and judges had varying interpretations.
The administration's move could scuttle a Supreme Court case to be heard next month in which a transgender boy, Gavin Grimm, is seeking to use the men's room in his Virginia high school.
He won before the U.S. appeals court in Richmond, Va., which cited the guidance letter issued by Obama administration lawyers. But on Oct. 28, less than two weeks before the presidential election, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the school board's appeal of the ruling in favor of the transgender student.
As lawyers for Gloucester School Board pointed out, the 1972 law did not forbid all sex-based policies. For example, schools may maintain separate sports teams for women and men. And government regulations say they also may have "separate toilet, locker rooms and shower facilities on the basis of sex."
The justices said they would rule on the validity of the Education Department's policy and on whether the 1972 law protects transgender students from discrimination. The case is scheduled to be argued before the eight justices on March 28.
The justices could decide to step aside for now and send the case back to the appeals court to reconsider its ruling because it was based on the Obama administration policy. Or they may press ahead and seek to rule broadly on whether the 1972 law forbids discrimination against students like Grimm.
It is also possible that after hearing arguments, they split 4-4, leaving the outcome in doubt until the arrival of a ninth justice.
In previewing the announcement Wednesday, Spicer noted that the guidance had not yet been fully implemented, for legal and procedural reasons. The aim of the change was to respect states' determinations.
"The president ... is a firm believer in states' rights," Spicer said.
Spicer also denied a New York Times report that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was reluctant to sign off on the change.
"There is no daylight between anybody, between the president, between any of the secretaries," he said. "I think there's been some discussion between the timing of the issuance and recommendations or between the exact wording."
In California, state law forbids discriminating against students based on gender identity or gender expression.
The National Association of Secondary School Principals, which had formally requested the guidance ultimately offered by the Obama administration last year, criticized Trump's reported plans. "If the guidance is withdrawn, principals will continue their efforts to support transgender and all other students in the face of new opposition and, sadly, with the knowledge that their president might not share their concern for the needs of each student," Bob Farrace, the organization's director of public affairs, said in a statement.
