Trump admin launches blue-state probes into hidden trans-ing of kids, threatens defunding schools that keep parents in dark

The Trump Department of Education may be headed for dismantlement but on its way out is set to make life difficult for those blue-state radicals trying to indoctrinate and transition children behind parents' backs.

In addition to putting schools nationwide on notice that they could lose federal funding for violations of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, the ED announced late last week that it is investigating the education departments in Maine and California over allegations school districts in those blue states keep parents in the dark regarding efforts to transition their children.

While ideologues in the public education system are apparently upset over the return of accountability and transparency — the executive director of the non-straight lobbying group GLSEN called the initiative an "intimidation tactic" — there should have been no doubt it was coming. After all, President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 29 directing his education secretary to draft a plan for:

• protecting parental rights pursuant to FERPA and the PPRA;
• eliminating federal funds from being by schools and school employees to directly or indirectly interfere with parents' statutory right to administrative and educational information pertaining to their children;
• eliminating federal funds from being used "to directly or indirectly support or subsidize the social transition of a minor student, including through school staff or teachers or through deliberately concealing the minor's social transition from the minor's parents"; and
• ending the use of federal funds that "support or subsidize the instruction, advancement, or promotion of gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology."

Biden-era mutation of federal law

FERPA is a federal law recognizing parents' rights to access their kids' education records as well as to wield some control over the release of personally identifiable information.

PPRA is a federal law requiring that parents of unemancipated minor students provide consent before the administration or distribution of any survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals information regarding the student or their family's political affiliations or beliefs; mental or psychological problems; sexual behavior or attitudes; unlawful behavior; religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs; or income.

'The Department will no longer passively accept school officials' hostility to parental involvement.'

Education Secretary Linda McMahon indicated in a letter to educators nationwide Friday that "over the last four years, instead of vigorously enforcing these laws, the Biden Administration neglected the flood of complaints it received."

McMahon noted that while the complaints piled up, certain states took "advantage of this dereliction of government responsibility and installed policies that specifically instruct teachers and administrators to conceal student’s critical information in student records from their parents."

In the interest of both rectifying radicals' inversion of the concept of privacy "to facilitate ideological indoctrination in a school environment without parental interference or even involvement" and of addressing parents' concerns, McMahon vowed a "revitalized effort" to make both the FERPA and PPRA "the source of proactive, effective checks on schools that try to keep parents in the dark."

"The Department will no longer passively accept school officials' hostility to parental involvement," said McMahon. "The Department stands with parents in exercising their rights to the full extent of the law."

Frank Miller, acting director of the ED's Student Privacy Policy Office, reminded chief state school officers and superintendents of their obligations under FERPA and PPRA in a corresponding letter, suggesting that certain state and local educational agencies are presently committing violations.

Blue-state violators

The ED announced Thursday that it was launching an investigation into the California Department of Education for alleged FERPA violations. On Friday, the ED revealed that it was similarly going after the state education department in Maine for potential violations.

California receives roughly $8 billion annually from the U.S. Education Department. Maine reportedly received $250 million from the ED this year.

Gavin Newsom, the Democratic California governor now masquerading as a moderate, ratified a gay assemblyman's bill last year prohibiting school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and state special schools from introducing or enforcing rules, regulations, or policies that require employees to disclose to parents "any information related to a pupil's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression."

'It is not only immoral but also potentially in contradiction with federal law.'

Blaze News previously reported that California law now effectively requires educators to keep parents in the dark about their child's sexual confusion and gender dysphoria unless the child consents to looping them in and shields public employees from consequence if they worked to conceal a child's confusion from his or her parents.

In Maine, a similarly ruinous game of secrecy is afoot.

A recent report in the Federalist cited by McMahon indicated that 57 Maine school districts had policies on the books that prevented parents from knowing when their children started identifying as members of the opposite sex.

"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."

'We're closer than ever to dismantling these policies permanently.'

Nicole Neily, the founder of the parental rights advocacy group Parents Defending Education, stated, "Under the previous Administration, we were fighting to protect our children from irreversible 'sex changes' — a path too often facilitated by school personnel who we entrusted with our children."

"We are proud to stand with President Trump and Secretary McMahon to hold school districts accountable and ensure no child is socially transitioned behind parent's [sic] backs by teachers or administrators," added Neily.

The ED noted that state laws do not override federal laws and that FERPA violations "can result in termination of an educational entity’s federal funding."

Blue-state educators are not only facing pressure from the ED on this issue.

While the Department of Agriculture has been hammering blue states for alleged failures to fall in line with Trump's directive to keep men out of women's sports, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins noted her department will also support the ED in its investigation of the California Department of Education for over potential FERPA violations.

Rollins told Newsom in a March 27 letter that her department is "undertaking a review of its research and other education-related funding in California for compliance with the Constitution, federal laws including Titles VI and IX, and the priorities of the Trump Administration."

Elana Ross, a spokeswoman for Newsom, told Politico that "parents continue to have full, guaranteed access to their student's education records as required by federal law," adding, "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 Thomas More Society, which has been fighting California in court to prevent its practice of hiding critical information about students from parents, celebrated the Trump ED's decision to bring the fight to blue-state radicals.

"We hope that the combination of our class action lawsuit and the U.S. government's investigation will prove a powerful 'one-two punch' that will deliver a knockout blow to these policies in California, along with showing the path to defeat these policies across the entire country," Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive vice president, said in a statement.

"We're closer than ever to dismantling these policies permanently, protecting truth-telling teachers, and restoring every California parent’s right to be involved in their child’s health and well-being," added Breen.

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