New York City is suing the Department of Education after it pulled $47 million in grants, citing violations of Title IX protections for female students.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon warned that schools refusing to comply with Title IX would lose federal funding. Now, New York City is finding out she wasn’t bluffing.
America’s largest school district filed a federal lawsuit Thursday after the U.S. Department of Education pulled $47 million in promised grants over its transgender policies. Specifically, the DOE said the district’s guidelines — which allow male students who identify as female to use girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms and participate on girls’ sports teams — violate Title IX protections for female students.
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The city had until Sept. 23 to reverse course or lose current and future funding for 19 specialty magnet schools across the five boroughs. When it refused, the department followed through.
Now, New York City is suing Education Secretary Linda McMahon and other federal officials, claiming the Biden-era grants were unlawfully discontinued and that the department failed to follow the “mandatory process” required for alleged Title IX violations.
“DOE’s threat to cut off tens of millions of dollars in magnet funding unless we canceled our protections for transgender and gender expansive students is contrary to federal, state and local law and, just as importantly, our values as New York City Public Schools,” Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said in a news release.
The lawsuit accuses federal officials of trying to “unlawfully coerce” the city into abandoning local policies, which the district says comply with both New York law and the Constitution.
California, like New York, has chosen to defy Trump’s executive order to keep males out of girls’ sports and private spaces.
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But the Department of Education says the funding cuts are justified.
“The magnet school grant program requires certification of civil rights compliance, which we could obviously not do in the face of NYC’s continued determination to violate the rights of female students under Title IX,” a department spokesperson told the Associated Press.
Dept. Of Education Cuts Funding For Schools Over Title IX Violations
In its complaint, the city argues the department’s actions were sudden, unlawful and politically motivated.
“The DOE took all of these actions without warning, well after school budgets had been set, and two weeks after the 2025–2026 school year had already begun,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also tests President Trump’s February Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports executive order, which requires any school receiving federal education dollars to ban male athletes from competing in female categories. Several blue-state districts have openly defied the order and continued allowing trans-identifying males access to girls’ sports teams and facilities.
Federal officials have since followed up with investigations and — in New York City’s case — consequences.
President Donald Trump joined by women athletes signs the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order.
(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
While the city insists it is compliant with Title IX, the Trump administration interprets the law according to biological sex, not gender identity.
The outcome of this case could have significant implications for school districts across the country, especially as blue states continue to defy the executive order.
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