Education Department finds California gender policy violates federal law
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A California policy that allows school districts to block gender transition from students’ parents violates federal law, the U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said a federal investigation found that California education officials “seriously abused” their authority by pressuring school districts to keep information about students’ gender transitions from their parents.
“Under Gavin Newsom’s failed leadership, school staff boasted of facilitating ‘gender transitions’ and shared strategies to target minors and hide information about children from their own families,” she said in a statement. “While the Biden Administration has turned a blind eye to this disenfranchisement of parents and sanctioned the irreversible harm inflicted on children in the name of radical transgender ideology, the Trump Administration will fight relentlessly to end it.”
“Children belong to families, not the State. We will use every mechanism available to hold California accountable for these practices and restore parental rights,” the Secretary added.
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The U.S. Department of Education says a policy in California that allows school districts to hide students’ gender transition from their parents violates federal law. (Getty Images)
California Department of Education spokeswoman Liz Sanders told Politico that the department was reviewing the letter sent by McMahon, but “we believe we have addressed the substance of this letter in previous communications.”
State education officials told school districts in October that state policy “does not mandate confidentiality.”
The federal investigation’s findings could jeopardize the nearly $8 billion in education funding the federal government provides to states each year unless state officials work with the Trump administration to resolve violations.
To address the violations, the federal government said California could take several actions, including issuing a notice to all superintendents and administrators that “gender support plans” or other documents directly related to the student are considered educational records and subject to parental inspection upon request, and advising superintendents and administrators that state laws should not be construed to undermine or conflict with federal law.
School districts would need to certify that 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 would also need to include federal government-approved content in LGBTQ+ cultural competency training.
State policy AB 1955, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024, prohibited transgender and gay students from disclosing their gender identity or sexual orientation to parents without the student’s permission.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said a federal investigation found that California officials “gravely abused” their authority by pressuring school districts to block gender transition from students’ parents. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Last spring, the federal government launched an investigation into the state’s Department of Education, alleging that state officials “hid minors’ ‘gender identity’ from parents while assisting children with their social transition in school.”
The federal agency also alleged that the state violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
“AB 1955 does not prohibit LEA staff from sharing any information with parents,” state officials wrote to school districts in October, according to Politico. “Based on the plain language of both laws, there is no conflict between AB 1955 and FERPA, which both allow parents to access 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 scrutiny in the courts.
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The state policy, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024, would ban transgender and gay students from disclosing their gender identity or sexual orientation to parents. (AP Photo/Zengin Pedroncelli, File)
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A federal judge ruled last month that schools cannot 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 the lawsuit are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate the previous decision.
The Trump administration is also taking legal action against California, threatening to cut funding over a policy that allows biological males to compete in girls’ sports.
