Education leaders must keep parents informed about "ideological indoctrination" in schools to remain compliant with two federal privacy laws, said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a "Dear Colleague" letter on Friday.
If schools want to continue receiving federal funds, McMahon said, they must abide by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment.
FERPA gives parents the right to access their children’s education records and to seek for schools to amend those records. PPRA provides parents with certain rights in schools, such as requiring parental consent before facilitating student participation in some surveys, as well as providing notice and offering parents the choice to opt children out of certain nonemergency and invasive physical exams, and the collection and disclosure of personal information used for marketing purposes.
In a Friday statement, the U.S. Department of Education said McMahon’s letter follows reports that states and school districts are violating these privacy laws by “hiding critical information, such as a child’s ‘gender transition,’ from parents about their child’s mental and physical wellbeing and safety.”
McMahon, in the statement, charged that “states and school districts have turned the concept of privacy on its head — prioritizing the privileges of government officials over the rights of parents and wellbeing of families."
“Going forward," she said, "the correct application of FERPA will be to empower all parents to protect their children from the radical ideologies that have taken over many schools.”
Meanwhile, the Education Department last week announced it's investigating both the California Department of Education and Maine Department of Education for violating FERPA over their districts’ policies on students' gender support plans.
The federal agency’s investigation alleges that a new California law has led the state’s education department to bar school personnel from disclosing to parents their children’s gender identity and in doing so violates the state’s FERPA responsibilities. For Maine, the Education Department alleged that the state education department violated FERPA by allowing “dozens” of school districts to create gender support plans without disclosing records of those plans to parents.
In recent years, some schools have started offering gender support plans for transgender and nonbinary students as LGBTQ+ youth struggle with rising rates of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. These plans are detailed forms that aim to help transgender and nonbinary students feel supported at school. They can include how to navigate changes to a student’s name or pronouns or their access to facilities.
In December, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case about a Wisconsin school district’s “gender identity support plan” policy. Parents suing the Eau Claire Area School District alleged that the district’s policy allowed students to change their names and pronouns without parent notification or consent.
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