The Obama administration is pushing many Americans far beyond their comfort level in its new effort to make the nation's school districts accommodate transgender students. Administration officials' hearts are in the right place in their effort to uphold federal law Title IX prohibitions against gender discrimination.

But the nation is not ready to go this far, this fast. Public education must come first. The president has done a lousy job of preparing the country for the substantial changes required to accommodate a relatively tiny number of transgender students. The effort will strike many Americans as progressivism run amok — all for a cause estimated to affect 0.03 percent or less of the population.

The past year has brought many wrenching social issues to the foreground, especially the Supreme Court's decision last June that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right. The Pentagon is preparing to lift restrictions on transgender military service. States like North Carolina are immersed in controversy over moves to require people to use public restrooms based on their birth-assigned gender rather than the one they identify with.

These are gigantic pills for many Americans to swallow so quickly. The new issue of accommodating transgender students on sports teams and in school locker rooms, showers and restrooms presents a host of new challenges, which must not be dismissed by liberals with "just get over it" flippancy.

A few school districts in the country have already adapted with great success, and their leadership is welcome. But they changed because their communities were ready for it. The rest of the nation isn't there yet.

Parents worry, with ample justification, about what it might mean for their daughters to share a locker room with a person clearly endowed with male plumbing, or vice versa in the boys' showers. Often, there's no stall or curtain to protect privacy.

The Justice Department's goal is admirable: to "create classroom environments that are safe, nurturing, and inclusive for all of our young people." But implementation could backfire badly. There are real-world prospects of youthful teasing, cruelty and hurt. As if there's not enough of that already.

We write these words not from a spirit of insensitivity or intolerance. We worry about the many ways this issue could further divide an already tattered nation.

The administration issued a threat to withhold federal funding — as if waving a magic wand of tolerance would somehow make everything right. Cash-strapped schools now must confront harsh budget decisions: Do we keep our art teacher, or do we make our facilities transgender-compliant?

The administration offers no road map, no package of federal funding assistance to help school districts adjust. A sledgehammer approach to enforce Title IX compliance seems destined for pushback and nasty court battles.

President Barack Obama seems more concerned with solidifying his legacy than recognizing reality. He's pushing too fast and too far.

REPRINTED FROM THE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH