Unfortunately, it seems like it might be a lose-lose all around for various individuals living in North Carolina.

Following the passage of a controversial bathroom bill that requires transgendered individuals to use the bathroom of the sex they were born with, The Washington Post says the already-financially-destitute state could lose education funding as a result.

Looking back in history to the 1960s when the federal government withheld funding from hundreds of schools for refusing to desegregate, The Washington Post says the federal government may use its power sparingly, but "school districts know that the threat is not an empty one — and that often makes them willing to comply with federal civil rights directives.”

If North Carolina does not, however, a hefty $4 billion in federal funding is at stake.

The Washington Post notes that the federal government is still in the process of defining the kinds of protections it offers to transgendered people under federal law.

"And that — the unsettled question of what federal law really requires regarding protections for transgender people — makes the fight over transgender students’ access to bathrooms somewhat different than the fight over desegregation,” The Post said.

"By the 1960s, courts had made clear that segregated schools were illegal. But today, federal law regarding the civil rights of transgender people is still evolving.”

North Carolina is a state the routinely ranks towards the bottom when it comes to education funding, per-pupil spending and teacher pay. Further financial problems could be detrimental to the slowly but surely improving state.

Read the full story.

Nicole Gorman, Education World Senior Contributor

Related Reading: 

• Will North Carolina be the first state to lose federal education funding over gender discrimination? 

5/10/2016