The Department of Education (ED) on Wednesday accused California of violating federal law by making schools hide students’ “gender transitions” from parents.
ED’s Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) said it investigated the California Department of Education (CDE) and found it in violation of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which is a federal law that gives parents the right to access their children’s education data.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement:
Our investigation found that the California Department of Education egregiously abused its authority by pressuring school officials to withhold information about students’ so-called ‘gender transitions’ from their parents. Under Gavin Newsom’s failed leadership, school personnel have even bragged about facilitating ‘gender transitions,’ and shared strategies to target minors and conceal information about children from their own families.
“While the Biden Administration turned a blind eye to this deprivation of parental rights and endorsed the irreversible harms done to children in the name of radical transgender ideology, the Trump Administration will fight relentlessly to end it,” she added. “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.”
READ MORE: Gavin Newsom Signs Bill Denying Parents’ Right to Know Child’s Gender Change in School
SPPO found that CDE policies and practices “create powerful state-directed pressure of schools to adopt policies that have led to FERPA noncompliance,” according to ED. The department pointed to a California law called AB 1955, which prohibits schools from requiring parents be informed of their child’s “gender transition.”
“District leaders claim State laws and CDE policies put districts in a position of having to choose between complying with FERPA or getting sued by the State,” ED said in a press release.
ED said the investigation further rendered findings that CDE allegedly makes school districts use “secret gender support plans” kept in “separate filing systems for the primary purpose of hiding these records from parents.” The department pointed to a report by the the Daily Caller showing that more than 300 children “were placed on ‘gender support plans’ or had their names or pronouns modified in school systems” in California during the 2023-2024 school year.
RELATED: Attorneys File Emergency Request with Supreme Court to Block California’s School ‘Gender Secrecy’ Policy, Call It ‘Parental Deception Scheme’
SPPO launched its investigation in March 2025 and has since made several requests to CDE to issue guidance to schools requiring they comply with FERPA — all of which CDE has denied, ED alleged.
SPPO sent a letter to state superintendents that same month demanding compliance with FERPA and reminding them that “by natural right and moral authority, parents are the primary protectors of their children.”
ED also previously said state laws do not override federal laws and pointed out that education entities receiving federal funding are subject to FERPA. The department said a violation of FERPA can result in the termination of federal funding.
An advocacy group called Parents Defending Education (PDE) found that in 2025 more than 1,000 school districts across the United States have policies openly stating that “district personnel can or should keep students’ transgender status hidden from their parents.” Those districts encompass 21,314 schools and 12,360,787 students.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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