Trump Administration Targets LAUSD Policy On Disclosing Students’ Gender Identity To Parents

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Trump administration announced an "enforcement action" against the Los Angeles Unified School District Monday for policies that allegedly require staff to keep sensitive information such as students' self-professed gender identity hidden from parents.

The U.S. Department of Education says it has partnered with federal prosecutors to target school district policies that officials allege violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment.

The policies direct educators and school administrators to "privately ask the student how they want to be referred to when communicating with parents/legal guardians" and to keep a students' self-professed gender identity private or confidential, including from parents, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Federal prosecutors contend the LAUSD's "parental secrecy" policies have allowed students "to make life-altering decisions in secret," without their parents' knowledge.

The exact nature of the enforcement action was not made known. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon called the LAUSD a "rogue" school district.

A message sent to LAUSD requesting comment was not immediately answered.

Meanwhile, a joint letter from Education Department and the Justice Department was sent Monday to all state attorneys general "reaffirming the Trump administration's commitment to protecting parental rights," prosecutors said.

The letter puts states on notice that under FERPA and PPRA, parents "have the right to know and be informed of the most sensitive and personal information pertaining to their children," officials said.

"Parents are children's natural providers and protectors," Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said in a statement. "The Biden-Harris DOJ labeled concerned parents as threats for exercising their right to know what was happening at their kids' schools. This Civil Rights Division stands with parents, and we will continue to partner with the Department of Education to enforce parents' rights under federal law."

McMahon charged that under the Biden administration, "parents were the enemy. They were labeled as terrorists, targeted, and investigated by a government weaponized against them."

"That era is over," she said. "The Trump administration is acting with unprecedented energy and purpose to restore parents' natural rights as the primary protectors of their children. The Department of Education is committed to fully enforcing FERPA and PPRA.

"We are grateful to the Department of Justice for partnering with us to hold rogue schools accountable, including the Los Angeles Unified School District, and urge all state Attorneys General to work with us in upholding the letter of the law."

City News Service