California illegally hid K–12 students’ “gender transitions” from parents, violating federal law, the US Department of Education revealed Wednesday.
A DOE investigation found the Golden State pressured elementary and high schools to create secret “gender support plans” and override parent portals — leaving at least 300 students’ parents in the dark.
“Children do not belong to the State — they belong to families,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.
The department has given the California Department of Education two weeks to respond and come into compliance with federal law. If it does not, the federal government could take necessary “enforcement action.”
“The environment they are creating in the state makes it basically impossible for districts to comply with FERPA,” a senior Department of Education official told The Post.
Under a California law passed in July 2024, school districts are prohibited from requiring staff to disclose a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation to parents without the student’s permission. This law, known as the Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth Act, prevents schools from enforcing “forced outing” policies.
“Schools do not get to choose which records they feel like providing to parents and which ones they don’t,” the official said.
Specifically, school officials petitioned the student management company, Aeries, to hide student names and pronouns and to override the parent portal, limiting what parents can see, according to a senior DOE official.
