Latest news with #FamilyEducationalRightsPrivacyAct
Fox News
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
California school board members praise Trump admin's probe into state allegedly hiding kids' 'gender identity'
Some California school board members are rejoicing after the U.S. Department of Education are looking into the state's effort to curb parental notification policies. "We warned [Gavin] Newsom," Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) Board President Sonja Shaw told Fox News Digital. "I am a mother and a school board president, and I have been screaming from every rooftop: parents have the undeniable right to know what's happening with their children, and we will not let Newsom and his bureaucrats cover it up." Shaw's school district passed parental notification policies, which required school officials to inform parents of their child identifying as transgender or looking to change their names or pronouns. This prompted California Attorney General Rob Bonta in 2023 to sue the school district. Other school districts in California followed CVUSD in passing parental notification policies, including the Murrieta Unified School District (MVUSD), Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD), Orange Unified School District, Anderson Union High School District, and Rocklin Unified School District. In January 2024, Bonta warned school districts not to pass what he called "forced outing" policies. President Donald Trump is stepping in after the state of California pushed back against parental rights policies, school board members hope to be vindicated for their efforts. "What we are seeing happening in real time is our president vindicating the efforts of the previous local school boards in California, as the fight against wokeism continues," Dr. Joseph Komrosky, a school board trustee at TVUSD, said. The Department of Education on Thursday launched an investigation into the California Department of Education over alleged violations of the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA), citing California's new law AB 1955 that bars schools from so-called "forced outing" policies or disclosing a child's "gender identity" to their parents. FERPA ensures parents have the right to access their children's educational information, and the Trump administration says that includes interactions with school employees pertaining to gender identity and mental health. "Parents continue to have full, guaranteed access to their student's education records, as required by federal law," a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "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." Komrosky said the parental notification policies were to "empower the parents," and "protect the innocence of children by voting in our respective parental notification policies across the state." "Newsom and Bonta have consistently overstepped their jurisdiction by threatening the TVUSD school board in an attempt to control our policies for curriculum and parental notification. We will not back down as elected officials representing the voice of our community," TVUSD Board member Jen Wiersma said. California officials argued that AB 1955 strengthens existing protections against "forced outings" of students, which Bonta claims is "wrongfully and unconstitutionally discriminating against and violating the privacy rights of LGBTQ+ students" in his lawsuit against CVUSD. Shaw said Newsom and Bonta targeted them for implementing "common-sense" policies. "But we refused to back down," Shaw said. "Thanks to the relentless efforts of [Liberty Justice Center,] we fought back—and we won, even in California's courts. Here in Chino Valley, we still have a parental notification policy that they couldn't even get us to rescind, even after weaponizing every aspect to stop us." Shaw referred to LJC declaring victory for parents while representing CVUSD in court with the state of California. Although the court ruling forced CVUSD to revise their parental notification policy, administrators are still required to notify parents about changes to a child's school records. "We took our battle to the federal level by filing claims with the Office for Civil Rights, writing letters to the Department of Education, and alerting President Trump," Shaw said. "Newsom's state education agenda dismisses the voice of parents and undermines the local control we've fought to uphold. Chino Valley USD will continue to prioritize transparency and the rightful role of families in their children's education," Andres Cruz, a CVUSD board clerk, said. MVUSD in November 2024 rescinded their parental notification policy in a 3-2 vote and said that they never implemented it. Board trustees Nick Pardue and Julie Vandegrift voted to keep the policy. "Gavin Newsom used state law to threaten local school districts like ours who tried to protect our parent's Constitutional rights," Pardue told Fox News Digital. "Now that our president has intervened on behalf of parents and local control, he has decided to defy federal law. He is supposed to support and defend the Constitution and obviously disregards that obligation."
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
California school board members praise Trump admin's probe into state allegedly hiding kids' 'gender identity'
Some California school board members are rejoicing after the U.S. Department of Education are looking into the state's effort to curb parental notification policies. "We warned [Gavin] Newsom," Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) Board President Sonja Shaw told Fox News Digital. "I am a mother and a school board president, and I have been screaming from every rooftop: parents have the undeniable right to know what's happening with their children, and we will not let Newsom and his bureaucrats cover it up." Shaw's school district passed parental notification policies, which required school officials to inform parents of their child identifying as transgender or looking to change their names or pronouns. This prompted California Attorney General Rob Bonta in 2023 to sue the school district. Maine Universities Agree To Keep Transgender Athletes Out Of Women's Sports After Trump Admin Pauses Funding Other school districts in California followed CVUSD in passing parental notification policies, including the Murrieta Unified School District (MVUSD), Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD), Orange Unified School District, Anderson Union High School District, and Rocklin Unified School District. Read On The Fox News App In January 2024, Bonta warned school districts not to pass what he called "forced outing" policies. President Donald Trump is stepping in after the state of California pushed back against parental rights policies, school board members hope to be vindicated for their efforts. "What we are seeing happening in real time is our president vindicating the efforts of the previous local school boards in California, as the fight against wokeism continues," Dr. Joseph Komrosky, a school board trustee at TVUSD, said. The Department of Education on Thursday launched an investigation into the California Department of Education over alleged violations of the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA), citing California's new law AB 1955 that bars schools from so-called "forced outing" policies or disclosing a child's "gender identity" to their parents. FERPA ensures parents have the right to access their children's educational information, and the Trump administration says that includes interactions with school employees pertaining to gender identity and mental health. "Parents continue to have full, guaranteed access to their student's education records, as required by federal law," a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "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." California School Board President Speaks Out After Receiving 'Death Threats' For Supporting Parents: 'Evil' Komrosky said the parental notification policies were to "empower the parents," and "protect the innocence of children by voting in our respective parental notification policies across the state." "Newsom and Bonta have consistently overstepped their jurisdiction by threatening the TVUSD school board in an attempt to control our policies for curriculum and parental notification. We will not back down as elected officials representing the voice of our community," TVUSD Board member Jen Wiersma said. California officials argued that AB 1955 strengthens existing protections against "forced outings" of students, which Bonta claims is "wrongfully and unconstitutionally discriminating against and violating the privacy rights of LGBTQ+ students" in his lawsuit against CVUSD. Shaw said Newsom and Bonta targeted them for implementing "common-sense" policies. "But we refused to back down," Shaw said. "Thanks to the relentless efforts of [Liberty Justice Center,] we fought back—and we won, even in California's courts. Here in Chino Valley, we still have a parental notification policy that they couldn't even get us to rescind, even after weaponizing every aspect to stop us." Shaw referred to LJC declaring victory for parents while representing CVUSD in court with the state of California. Although the court ruling forced CVUSD to revise their parental notification policy, administrators are still required to notify parents about changes to a child's school records. "We took our battle to the federal level by filing claims with the Office for Civil Rights, writing letters to the Department of Education, and alerting President Trump," Shaw said. "Newsom's state education agenda dismisses the voice of parents and undermines the local control we've fought to uphold. Chino Valley USD will continue to prioritize transparency and the rightful role of families in their children's education," Andres Cruz, a CVUSD board clerk, said. Click Here For The Fox News App MVUSD in November 2024 rescinded their parental notification policy in a 3-2 vote and said that they never implemented it. Board trustees Nick Pardue and Julie Vandegrift voted to keep the policy. "Gavin Newsom used state law to threaten local school districts like ours who tried to protect our parent's Constitutional rights," Pardue told Fox News Digital. "Now that our president has intervened on behalf of parents and local control, he has decided to defy federal law. He is supposed to support and defend the Constitution and obviously disregards that obligation."Original article source: California school board members praise Trump admin's probe into state allegedly hiding kids' 'gender identity'
Fox News
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump draws laughs when defining a 'woman' — until he touches on a serious issue
President Donald Trump drew laughs from the press when one reporter asked him to define what a woman is. Trump was speaking at a news conference after Alina Habba, a longtime member of his team, was sworn-in as the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. The reporter who asked the question first said that Trump had done "so much for women" before listing women who have powerful roles in the Trump administration, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Attorney General Pam Bondi. He then asked, "Since Democrats seemed to struggle answering this question, I want to ask you, what is a woman and why is it important that we understand the difference between men and women?" The room quickly erupted in laughter as Trump said that the question was "easy" to answer. "A woman is somebody, they can have a baby under certain circumstances. She has equality. A woman is a person who is much smarter than a man, I've always found. A woman is a person that doesn't give a man even a chance of success," Trump said. While the reporters in the room chuckled, Trump took the opportunity to take the question in a serious direction and addressed the issue of transgender athletes playing in women's sports. "And a woman is a person that in many cases has been treated very badly. Because I think that what happens with this crazy, this crazy issue of men being able to play in women's sports is just ridiculous and very unfair to women, and very demeaning to women," Trump said, shifting the tone of the news conference. Trump referenced a Democrat lawmaker, without naming who it was, fighting to keep transgender athletes in women's sports. The president joked that he hopes Democrats keep arguing for the inclusion of trans athletes in women's sports "because they'll never win another election." The Trump administration has taken swift action in combating gender ideology. Trump signed an order specifically addressing the issue of trans athletes in women's sports. The order, "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," prohibits educational institutions that receive federal funds from allowing trans athletes to compete against women. Additionally, Trump signed an executive order titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government." This order made it official policy that the U.S. government only recognizes two genders: male and female. The U.S. Department of Education recently took action on this issue and launched an investigation of the California Department of Education over alleged violations of the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA) after a new California law went into effect that bars schools from disclosing a child's "gender identity" to their parents. California Gov. Gavin Newsom spokesperson Elana Ross told Fox News Digital in a statement Thursday, "Parents continue to have full, guaranteed access to their student's education records, as required by federal law." As Trump concluded his answer to the question, he said, "Women are, basically, incredible people, do so much for our country. And we love our women and we're going to take care of our women." Fox News Digital's Jamie Joseph contributed to this article.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Feds investigating Maine over student gender transition claims
The Department of Education is investigating Maine over reported concerns that school districts are using privacy laws to keep information about students away from their parents, alleging the state's Department of Education is violating the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA). The federal department is taking issue with district policies that allegedly allow schools to create 'gender plans' to help transgender students but 'claim those plans are not education records under FERPA and therefore not available to parents,' it said. 'Parents and guardians have the right to access their child's education records to guide and safeguard their child's mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Any policy to the contrary is both illegal and immoral,' said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. FERPA gives a legal right to parents to access their children's educational records. The Hill has reached out to Maine's Department of Education for comment. The investigation comes a day after the Education Department launched a similar inquiry against California over a new law that says schools cannot disclose a student's gender identity to their parents. Both investigations were started before the federal agency put out a 'Dear Colleague' letter to chief state school officers and superintendents regarding federally funded schools FERPA obligations. The letter stresses schools must provide all education records of a student to their parents, including ones involving an individual's gender identity. 'Parents are the most natural protectors of their children. Yet many states and school districts have enacted policies that imply students need protection from their parents,' McMahon said. 'These 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, 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,' she added. Since President Trump took office, he has repeatedly targeted transgender athletes in schools, including an executive order barring transgender girls from playing on women's sports teams. The Education Department has launched several investigations into schools over this order. It has also paused federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Maine system over alleged violations of the executive order. Both schools said they were in compliance with the NCAA, which no longer allows transgender athletes to play on the sports team they choose. The actions against Maine come after Trump publicly clashed with the state's governor last month at the White House over the issue. 'We are the federal law. You better do it because you're not going to get federal funding,' the president told Gov. Janet Mills (D). 'See you in court,' she replied. Trump has since called for 'a full throated apology' from Mills as his administration moves against her state. 'While the State of Maine has apologized for their Governor's strong, but totally incorrect, statement about men playing in women's sports while at the White House Governor's Conference, we have not heard from the Governor herself, and she is the one that matters in such cases,' he wrote on Truth Social last weekend. 'Therefore, we need a full throated apology from the Governor herself, and a statement that she will never make such an unlawful challenge to the Federal Government again, before this case can be settled,' he continued. 'I'm sure she will be able to do that quite easily.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
28-03-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
McMahon warns schools of increased enforcement on parents' rights
Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a 'Dear Colleague' letter on Friday to schools warning of increased enforcement of parental rights. The letter comes following investigations conducted by the Department of Education against California and Maine over policies the federal agency alleges keep records of a student's gender identity away from their parents, allegedly violating the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA). FERPA gives parents a legal right to have access to all their children's educational records. 'Parents are the most natural protectors of their children. Yet many states and school districts have enacted policies that imply students need protection from their parents,' said McMahon. 'These 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, 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,' she added. The 'Dear Colleague' letter from the Student Privacy Policy Office also identifies 'priority concerns' for which the office is considering 'proactive measures' to address. The concerns include schools that allegedly have policies that do not allow parents to see if the district comes up with a 'gender plan' to support a transgender student and districts that are allegedly not annually notifying parents of their rights under FERPA. The 'Dear Colleague' letter and investigations into Maine and California over FERPA come as the Trump administration has implemented policies affecting transgender students and athletes. The president signed an executive order barring transgender athletes from competing on the sports team they choose. Funding has also been paused to the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Maine over alleged violations of that order. Both schools have said they are following NCAA rules, which were changed to bar transgender athletes after Trump's order. The investigations came after Republican backlash to UPenn over a swimming controversy with a transgender student back in 2022. The University of Maine investigation began after a spat between Trump and Maine's governor over his order.
