Letters to the Editor: Obama’s Title IX arm-twisting set a bad precedent for education

To the editor: Give credit where it is due. Threatening to withhold federal dollars from research universities to force implementation of political agendas is an invention of the Obama administration. (“How Trump’s win could reshape UC research, LGBTQ+ rights and student loan forgiveness,” Nov. 8)

The U.S. Department of Education’s 2011 “Dear Colleague” letter required universities to implement Title IX responses to student sexual misconduct complaints that all but abrogated the rights of accused students, or else face loss of all federal funding. Classifying these new instructions as “guidance” shielded the department from pushback via the courts or from Congress.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos proceeded much more honestly during the first Trump administration, replacing Obama’s short-cut guidance with the formal federal rulemaking process, replete with public comment periods and avenues for legal challenge. It was also subject to congressional oversight.

Expect more of the same from President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.

James E. Moore II, Los Angeles