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THE US Department of Education announced Wednesday that a California policy allowing school districts to prevent students from gender transitioning with their parents violates federal law.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said a federal investigation found that California education officials “blatantly abused” their authority by pressuring school districts to withhold information about students’ gender transitions from parents.
“Under Gavin Newsom’s failed leadership, school staff have even bragged about facilitating ‘gender transitions’ and shared strategies for targeting minors and hiding information about children from their own families,” she said in a statement. “While the Biden administration turned a blind eye to this denial of parental rights and condoned the irreversible harm done to children in the name of radical transgender ideology, the Trump administration will fight tirelessly to end it.”
“Children do not belong to the state, they belong to families. We will use every mechanism available to hold California accountable for these practices and restore parental rights,” the secretary added.
The U.S. Department of Education says a California policy allowing school districts to prevent students from changing the gender of their parents violates federal law. (Getty Images)
California Department of Education spokeswoman Liz Sanders said in a statement to Politico that the department was reviewing the letter McMahon sent, but that “we believe we have addressed the essence of this letter in previous communications.”
State education officials told school districts in October that state policy “does not mandate nondisclosure.”
The federal investigation’s findings could jeopardize the nearly $8 billion in education funding the federal government provides to the state each year if state officials don’t work with the Trump administration to resolve the violations.
To resolve the violations, the federal government said California can take several steps, including issuing a notice to all superintendents and administrators that “gender support plans” or other related documents directly related to a student are considered educational records and are subject to parental inspection upon request and informing superintendents and administrators that state laws should not be construed to undermine or contradict federal law.
School districts should say they are complying with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that gives parents the right to inspect their children’s records, while the state must add federally approved content to its LGBTQ+ cultural competency training.
State policy, AB 1955, signed into law by the governor. Gavin Newsom in 2024, prohibited parental notification of the gender identity or sexual orientation of transgender and gay students without the student’s consent.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said a federal investigation found that California officials “blatantly abused” their authority by pressuring school districts to deny students’ gender transition to parents. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Last spring, the federal government opened an investigation into the state Department of Education, arguing that state officials were helping “children socially transition at school while hiding minors’ ‘gender identity’ from parents.”
The federal agency also claimed the state was violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
“AB 1955 does not prohibit LEA staff from sharing information with parents,” state officials wrote to school districts in October, according to Politico. “Based on the plain language of the two laws, there is no conflict between AB 1955 and FERPA, both of which allow parents access to their students’ education records upon request.”
Newsom’s office said last year that “parents continue to have full and guaranteed access to their students’ education records, as required by federal law,” according to Politico.
The Golden State’s policies also face intense scrutiny from the courts.
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State policy, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024, prohibits parental notification of the gender identity or sexual orientation of transgender and gay students. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, file)
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A federal judge ruled Last month, schools could not prevent teachers from sharing information about a student’s gender identity with parents, but an appeals court blocked that decision earlier this month. A group of California parents who filed suit are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate the earlier ruling.
The Trump administration is also taking legal action against California and threatening to withhold funding for a policy allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports.
