Education Department Threatens to Withhold Federal Funds Over Secret Gender Policies

The U.S. Department of Education demanded that California and Washington clarify how they will stop concealing students' gender-identity information from parents, warning of possible funding cuts.

The Department of Education, invoking authority dating back to the Trump administration, has again pressed left-leaning districts to end the practice of hiding students' claimed gender identities from parents, threatening to pull federal aid. On Thursday, the agency asked California and Washington to detail how they will amend policies so parents receive notice of serious medical issues like gender dysphoria, calling the current concealment a "delusion."

Officials referenced the Supreme Court’s Mirabelli v. Olson decision and a Ninth Circuit ruling that California’s secrecy law likely violates the Constitution. Although FERPA violations were identified in California earlier this year, funding has not yet been revoked. The department also warned Maryland’s Anne Arundel County and Michigan’s Ann Arbor schools that the Justice Department is joining enforcement actions, with possible court proceedings and loss of federal dollars. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon emphasized that FERPA compliance is mandatory and that districts failing to meet it will face immediate federal response.