SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The Trump administration is now targeting California’s Department of Education over the state’s bill that bans schools from being required to tell parents about their student’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
When it first passed, not all Californians were for it.
“We’re here to defend your rights as parents to direct your kids’ education,” said Andrew Hayes, a Lakeside Union School District Boardmember behind the district’s Parent’s Bill of Rights.
The board passed it unanimously last spring and implemented it before the start of the 2024-25 school year.
The bill of rights addresses curriculum, opting out of sex education, and notification of any bullying, suicidal intent, and sexual transitioning.
“For me, it was a matter of being ultimately and fundamentally transparent about what exactly is going on every day in school because parents have so many questions about it,” said Hayes.
Not everyone that ABC 10News spoke to was supportive of it.
“I actually did try coming out to my parents when I was 15 about being trans and the reception wasn’t great. And so, I went back in the closet with my parents but I continued to identify openly at school, so I really benefited from having teachers who were willing to give me that space to explore things like my name and my pronouns,” said Evan Johnson, a transgender student.
The Trump administration announced potential penalties from its investigation, including pulling federal funds, since California would be violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said, “It is not only immoral but also potentially in contradiction with federal law for California schools to hide crucial information about a student’s well-being from parents and guardians.”
Hayes said with the new administration’s support, he plans to revise the parents’ Bill of Rights.
“But now that the federal government is supportive of some of the positions that we have taken previously, we may have to go back and revise and edit some of our policies to align with the 2020 Title IX standards,” said Hayes.
ABC 10News reached out to the California Department of Education for comment, but they did not respond as of the publication of this story.