The U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday that a California policy that allows school districts to withhold students’ gender transitions from 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 their parents.
“Under Gavin Newsom’s failed leadership, school staff have even bragged about 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 turned a blind eye to this deprivation of parental rights and endorsed the irreversible harm to children in the name of radical transgender ideology, the Trump administration will fight relentlessly to end it.”
“Children do not belong to the state – they belong to families. We will use every available mechanism to hold California accountable for these practices and restore parental rights,” the secretary added.
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California Department of Education spokesperson Liz Sanders said in a statement to Politico that the department was reviewing McMahon’s letter, but that “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 non-disclosure.”
The federal investigation’s findings could jeopardize the nearly $8 billion in education funding the federal government provides to the state each year if administration officials do not work with the Trump administration to resolve the violations.
To resolve the violations, the federal government said California can take several actions, including issuing a notice to all superintendents and administrators that “gender support plans” or other related documentation directly related to a student are considered educational records and subject to parental inspection upon request, and informing superintendents and administrators that state law should not be interpreted as a way to undermine or contradict federal law.
School districts would be required to certify that they comply 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.
The state policy, AB 1955, which was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2024, banned 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 withhold students’ gender reassignments from their parents. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Last spring, the federal government opened an investigation into the state’s Department of Education, alleging that state officials “helped children socially transition at school while concealing minors’ ‘gender identity’ from their parents.”
The federal agency also alleged that the state is violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
“AB 1955 does not prohibit LEA personnel from sharing 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 grant parents access to their students’ education records upon request.”
Newsom’s office said last year that “parents will continue to have full, guaranteed access to their students’ education records, as required by federal law,” according to Politico.
The Golden State’s policies are also under scrutiny by the courts.
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The state policy, which was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024, banned 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 that schools cannot prevent teachers from sharing information about a student’s gender identity with their parents, but an appeals court blocked that ruling earlier this month. A group of California parents who filed the case are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate the previous decision.
The Trump administration is also taking legal action against California, threatening to withhold funding over a policy that allows biological males to compete in girls’ sports.
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