The Department of Education on Friday put public schools across the country on notice that they could lose their federal funding if educators and staff use the wrong pronoun when addressing transgender students, or do not prevent students from using the wrong pronoun.

In a “Dear Colleague” letter to all public schools, the top civil rights officials at the Department of Education and Department of Justice provided more detail about the new federal rules on transgender bathroom access and other protections and how the federal government would interpret them.