(TNND) — The state of Maine and the federal government appear on a legal collision course over education dollars and transgender athletes.
President Donald Trump verbally sparred with Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, during Friday’s meeting of governors at the White House.
Trump told Mills that her state needed to comply with his order that bans transgender athletes from playing in girls’ and women’s sports.
Maine has continued to allow transgender athletes to compete, and Mills told Trump that Maine is complying with state and federal laws.
After Trump threatened to withhold federal funding, Mills told Trump, “We’ll see you in court.”
“Good, I’ll see you in court,” Trump countered. “I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one. And enjoy your life after governor, because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has launched an investigation of Maine’s Department of Education based on allegations that the state is violating federal antidiscrimination law by allowing transgender athletes to compete.
Trump’s Feb. 5 executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” stated U.S. policy was “to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy.”
Title IX, passed in 1972, protects students from sex-based discrimination in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.
In Maine’s interpretation, transgender athletes must be protected from discrimination.
In Trump’s interpretation, biological female athletes must be protected from discrimination.
“You have competing values that are actually pretty clear, and you can sort of see how both are discrimination,” said Neal McCluskey, the director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom.
That’s why, true to the governor’s declaration, the issue is likely headed to court, McCluskey said.
An executive order does not or should not have the force of law when it comes to the distribution of money, McCluskey said.
“So, you should not be able to withhold federal money because of an executive order,” he said. “However, the executive order is tied to Title IX. And I think there is an open discussion about what does Title IX require.”
Recent reports from the U.S. Department of Education and Census Bureau said about 11% to 13% of public school funding comes from the federal government.
Local sources accounted for a little over 40% of school funding, with property taxes accounting for about two-thirds of that, according to a Census Bureau report from last spring.
State governments also contributed over 40% of education funding.
The Education Data Initiative reports Maine K-12 schools receive $358.4 million, or $2,062 per pupil, from the federal government. State funding totals $1.41 billion, or $8,088, per pupil. Local funding totals $1.73 billion, or $9,969, per pupil.
David Knight, an associate professor of education finance and policy at the University of Washington, said whether Trump has the legal authority to withhold funds or not, doing so would hurt students in Maine.
“That money matters, and it pays for special education and free lunches and lots of really important things that school districts cannot afford to pay for by themselves,” Knight said.
Knight also said there could be political repercussions from the funding fight.
“Education funding is popular among both Democrats and Republicans, and Maine is a purple state,” he said.
McCluskey said a lot of attention will be paid to the impact of withholding federal funds from public K-12 schools, but the larger impact could be felt by college students.
The Education Data Initiative also reports that about a third of Maine’s undergraduate college students receive federal loans.
Maine college students took out over $287 billion in federal loans last year, according to the Education Data Initiative. And Maine college students received a total of $90 million in federal grants.
“That could be the bigger lever,” McCluskey said of the possibility that the Trump administration will cut off access to federal student aid in Maine.
McCluskey said Trump will likely make good on his threat to withhold the funds. But McCluskey said a judge would likely order the federal funds to keep flowing until the issue is resolved in court.
“My guess is ultimately it will end up at the Supreme Court to decide, because I think you’ll have federal courts probably end up with different decisions depending which court they are,” McCluskey said.
