Quincy Reporter

Mary Miller, the representative for Illinois Congressional District 15, said that if public schools are not protecting children, they should not receive taxpayer funding. She expressed this view in a Facebook post on April 4.

"It's time to hold public schools accountable," said Miller, U.S. Representative, according to Facebook. "If they won't follow President Trump's protections for our girls, they don't deserve a dime of taxpayer money. My Keep Our Girls Safe Act will make sure of it."

According to Miller's Facebook post, it included a video message from U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon. In the video, McMahon announced the formation of the Title IX Special Investigations Team. This team comprises attorneys and investigators from both the Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and aims to address complaints regarding men competing in women's sports and accessing women-only spaces. "The establishment of this team will benefit women and girls across this nation who have been subjected to discrimination and indignity in their educational activities," said McMahon. She added that entities receiving federal funding would no longer be allowed to infringe on women's rights.

Screenshot of U.S. Rep. Mary Miller's April 4 Facebook post | U.S. Rep. Mary Miller's Facebook page

The protections referenced by Miller and McMahon are detailed in an executive order titled "Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports," signed by President Trump on February 5. The order claims that allowing men to compete in women's sports is detrimental to women and girls, denying them equal opportunities in competitive sports. It instructs the Secretary of Education to take measures to protect female athletic opportunities and locker rooms as promised by Title IX. Additionally, it mandates that funding will be withdrawn from non-compliant programs.

According to a DOJ news release on April 4, the special investigations team includes members from various departments: investigators and attorneys from the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, attorneys from the DOJ Civil Rights Division, personnel from the Department of Education Office of General Counsel, caseworkers from the Department of Education Privacy and Protection, and an enforcement investigator from Federal Student Aid (FSA).

Miller succeeded John Shimkus as representative for Illinois' 15th Congressional District in Congress since 2021. Born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1959 with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Eastern Illinois University, she resides with her husband in Oakland, Illinois. They manage their fourth-generation family farm. Miller is also noted as a mother of seven children and grandmother to twenty grandchildren.