Trump targets California ban on ‘forced outing’ of students’ gender identity to parents
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- Federal officials are investigating the California Department of Education for enforcing a state law that allows teachers to withhold information from parents about changes to their child’s gender identity.
- Billions of dollars in federal education funding could be at stake.
Federal officials have launched an investigation of the California Department of Education for withholding from parents information about changes to their child’s gender identity, setting up a showdown between the state and President Trump, with billions of dollars in federal funding potentially at stake.
The investigation, announced Thursday morning by the U.S. Department of Education, takes aim at a California law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in July, which prohibits schools from automatically notifying families about student gender-identity changes and shields teachers from retaliation for supporting transgender student rights. Federal officials contend the California law illegally violates the right of parents to receive school records related to their children.
U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon said children are best protected when no information is withheld from parents.
“Teachers and school counselors should not be in the business of advising minors entrusted to their care on consequential decisions about their sexual identity and mental health. That responsibility and privilege lies with a parent or trusted loved one,” McMahon said in a statement. “It is not only immoral but also potentially in contradiction with federal law for California schools to hide crucial information about a student’s well-being from parents and guardians.”
The potential penalty is the loss of federal funds overseen by the Education Department. These include $2.1 billion annually in funding to offset the effects of family poverty and $1.33 billion to assist in the education of students with disabilities.
The new law shields teachers from retaliation for supporting transgender students and prohibits school policies that require “forced disclosure” of youth gender decisions to their families.
State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said Thursday that the California law addressed a pressing concern for vulnerable students.
“Our students must be safe in order to learn,” Thurmond said. “I have heard from so many students and families whose safety has been impacted by forced-outing policies. To our LGBTQ+ youth and families, I want to make sure that you hear us as loudly as we hear you: You are heard, you are protected, and you are loved.”
The governor’s office was quick to fire back at the administration in Washington, including by alluding to mass, Trump-ordered layoffs at the U.S. Education Department.
“Parents continue to have full, guaranteed access to their student’s education records, as required by federal law,” said spokesperson Elana Ross. “If the U.S. Department of Education still had staff, this would be a quick investigation — all they would need to do is read the law the governor signed.”
The president has issued a spate of anti-transgender orders and policies, including directives that recognize only two biological sexes, calls for defunding or even criminalizing gender-affirming medical care for youth and bans against transgender people from bathrooms and sports teams who don’t conform to their gender identified at birth. In one order, titled “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” Trump took aim at school policies intended to support transgender, nonbinary and other gender-nonconforming students.
California already is involved with education-related litigation against the Trump administration seeking to halt the dismantling of the federal Education Department and the funding cuts to teacher-training grants.
And federal investigations also have been opened into individual school districts, California colleges and school sports leagues.
The California law, which bans “forced outing,” was approved after a handful of school boards passed policies requiring educators to notify parents if their child changes their name or pronouns, or if students request to use facilities or participate in programs that don’t match their gender on official records.
“Parental notification” policies have been divisive across the nation. On one side, advocates for LGBTQ+ students say that students need — and have a legal right — to explore this personal issue in a safe space and deserve the opportunity to decide when and what to tell their parents. However, many parents feel they have an uncompromised right to know if their child is changing their gender identity or exploring the possibility — and schools must tell them.
McMahon, in her statement, suggested that parent notification was a necessary step to prevent harmful indoctrination by school staff.
“The agency launched today’s investigation to vigorously protect parents’ rights and ensure that students do not fall victim to a radical transgender ideology that often leads to family alienation and irreversible medical interventions,” McMahon said.
Many educators reject such characterizations — saying that teachers are not trying to recruit students to alter their identity. They insist that they are instead trying to accept students as they are and encourage tolerance.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta vowed Tuesday to defend state educators and their immigrant and LGBTQ+ students against Trump administration threats.
The Trump administration probe is the latest norm-shattering step from the U.S. Department of Education, which is under his orders to shut itself down as soon as possible, even while upending the status quo both for K-12 and higher education.
Thursday’s action relies on the Trump administration’s interpretation of the federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, which protects the privacy of student education records from kindergarten through graduate school.
The U.S. Education Department has long had an office to deal with FERPA-related complaints submitted by parents and others. It is typical for such cases to revolve around personal information being improperly released or inadequately protected.
This case is different, said U.S. Education Department spokesperson Madi Biedermann.
“The more routine instances of FERPA investigations in the past have been about inappropriate disclosure of student privacy information, whereas this investigation is about a lack of disclosure of privacy information, specifically to keep parents out of the loop,” Biedermann said.
Also under FERPA, a school must provide a parent with an opportunity to inspect and review their child’s education records within a reasonable period of time, but not more than 45 calendar days following a request. A parent also can request a change to these records — and have that request become part of the permanent record if the school does not agree to it.
Senior department officials said the use of FERPA enforcement authority in this way might be “unprecedented,” although they also insisted it was well within the established scope of the law.
“State laws do not override federal laws, and educational entities receiving federal funding are subject to FERPA,” a statement from the Education Department said. “Violation of FERPA can result in termination of an educational entity’s federal funding.”
The Trump administration appears to be using FERPA in a novel way, said LeRoy Rooker, a senior fellow at the American Assn. of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, who provides training in how to comply with FERPA.
The FERPA mandate to share educational records with a parent is “based on a request,” said Rooker, a former director of the U.S. Department of Education office that managed FERPA enforcement. “So, school districts are not required to provide information to parents that is not requested by the parent.”
At the same time, Rooker added, once the parent of a minor makes a request to inspect school records, that request must be honored. California law or policy cannot provide blanket confidentiality that would exclude parents: “You can’t prohibit parents from being given access to their child’s education records if the request comes in.”
The California education department said the state law, also known as Assembly Bill 1955, already takes FERPA into account.
“AB 1955 prohibits local educational agencies from mandating that staff disclose students’ gender identity to parents without student consent, unless otherwise required by state or federal law,” according to a department statement. “AB 1955 does not mandate nondisclosure. Based on the plain language of both laws, there is no conflict between AB 1955 and FERPA, which permits parent access to their student’s written records upon request.”
Within hours, school district leaders across the state, including L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho, were trying to figure out how this state-versus-federal conflict would play out for them.
“I’m sure that Los Angeles Unified will be part of that inquiry, considering our size and our policies,” Carvalho said. “So we’ll be collaborating with the state in preparing its response ... from a perspective of protection for our students and our workforce.”
U.S. Education Department staff said the investigation was initiated in response to a complaint submitted by the law firm California Justice Center.
The California law “purports to recognize a nonexistent right of privacy in minors from their parents,” the complaint states.
Before the state law went into effect, the Chino Valley, Temecula Valley, Murrieta Valley and Orange districts in Southern California had passed parental notification policies in recent years. In Northern California, Anderson Union High School District in Shasta County as well as Rocklin Unified and Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District in Placer County also passed similar rules. At least eight states have passed similar laws, according to the Movement Advancement Project.
Times staff writers Jaweed Kaleem and Kate Sequeira contributed to this report.
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