The U.S. Department of Education (ED) Thursday opened an investigation into the California Department of Education (CDE) over its policy forcing schools to hide information from parents regarding their children’s gender identity.
Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law in 2024 prohibiting schools from enacting policies that require teachers and administrators to notify parents if a child requests to change their name or pronouns, use opposite-sex facilities or play on opposite-sex sports teams. ED said that law may be in violation of the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA), which gives parents the right to access their children’s educational data.
“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,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in the announcement of the investigation. “It is not only immoral but also potentially in contradiction with federal law for California schools to hide crucial information about a student’s wellbeing from parents and guardians. 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.”
In response to a request for comment, ED referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to the department’s press release.
Failure to comply with federal law may result in California losing federal funding. This would be consistent with prior Trump administration policy, as the Department of Education opened an investigation into Maine in early March after its Democrat Gov. Janet Mills got into a public spat with President Donald Trump, during which the governor declined to comply with Trump’s ban on men in women’s sports. Maine universities were soon stripped of federal funding and the state’s education department was found to be noncompliant with civil rights laws.
California received approximately $8 billion in federal funding for K-12 education in 2024-25, amounting to about 6% of its total lower education funding, according to the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office.
California education code permits athletes to participate on whichever team is “consistent with his or her gender identity.” The state’s Civil Rights Act further includes “gender identity” under its definition of sex.
In 2022, Newsom signed a bill making California a “sanctuary” for transgender-identifying children, allowing them and their families to flock to the state to obtain sex change procedures in order to skirt Republican-led state bans and parental consent laws.
Newsom, however, recently backtracked on his support of transgender participation in sports, stating on his podcast that men competing in women’s sports is “deeply unfair” and saying Democrats are out of touch on the issue. Newsom still claimed, however, that the some on the political right “weaponize” the issue of transgender-identifying athletes, specifically calling out Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been persistent in rooting out gender ideology in his state.
The California Department of Education did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
President Donald Trump has worked to drive gender ideology concepts out of American life, declaring the federal recognition of only two genders, banning federal funds from going towards the “chemical and surgical mutilation” of children and prohibiting men from competing in women’s sports.
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