The U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) did not enter into any resolution agreements for sexual harassment and assault cases in K-12 programs in 2025 after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, according to a K-12 Dive analysis of the USDE’s resolution agreement database. Sexual harassment and assault investigations and resolution agreements were previously a major enforcement area under the Title IX anti-sex discrimination law. Its scarce enforcement during the first year of Trump’s second term shocked education civil rights experts and women’s civil rights advocates, who called it an anomaly compared to the typical flow of investigations and resolution agreements published by OCR.
The USDE’s focus now centers on orders that bar transgender students from athletic teams and facilities aligning with their gender identity and prohibit diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in federally funded programs, including K-12.
In fact, according to its own online database there was an overall drop in Title IX resolution agreements that shows a broad slowdown in the OCR’s resolution agreement output last year. For example, in 2024 OCR only entered resolution agreements in 177 cases. That number, down from 518 in 2024, was the lowest annual tally since 2013.
When asked about the issue, the USDE contends it has “restored commonsense safeguards against sexual violence by returning sex-based separation in intimate facilities.” For more from K-12 Dive, click here.