The Biden administration is using lunch money to hold school districts hostage, according to the head of a conservative advocacy group, in response to the Department of Agriculture’s official statement that it would require certain schools to allow trans students to use the bathroom of their chosen gender.
In May, the department stated that schools receiving funds from the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) must include language in their rules against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The agency further stated that any claims of discrimination must be examined.
“What you’re seeing here is really the Biden administration saying ‘you’re going to do what I want or I’m going to take your lunch money.’ For the federal government to come in and really tie school nutrition and school lunch programs to this radical ideology is terrifying, and it’s appalling,” Ian Prior, the Fight for Schools Executive Director said.
According to Prior, the statement amounts to the Biden administration holding states and local school districts hostage with school meal money intended for impoverished children in order to implement transgender non-discrimination laws.
As per USDA, this declaration is part of President Biden’s executive order, which extends Title IX to cover discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The National School Lunch Program’s free and reduced lunches assist underprivileged pupils get the nutrients they need.
Prior warned that withholding funds from schools would hurt low-income pupils, however the USDA’s announcement didn’t specify what punishments schools would face if they didn’t cooperate.
