Posted on Monday, March 31, 2025
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by Alan Jamison
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0 Comments
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The U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation Friday into Maine over dozens of school districts within the state reportedly hiding the gender transitions of students from their parents. This is the latest move by Education Secretary Linda McMahon to eliminate radical gender ideology and DEI from America’s schools.
The Department of Education (DOE) stated that these school districts are allegedly violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) “by maintaining policies that infringe on parents’ rights.” FERPA is a law that allows parents to have access to their children’s education records and allows parents to request personal records and information about their children from schools.
“A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet with several young people who shared their detransitioning stories,” McMahon said. “It is deeply concerning to hear that teachers and school counselors in Maine are reportedly encouraging and helping students to undergo so-called ‘gender transitions’ while keeping parents in the dark. The Trump administration will enforce all federal laws to safeguard students and families.”
DOE’s investigation was inspired by the parental rights organization Parents Defending Education (PDE). The group sent more than 100 public records requests to school districts in Maine and discovered from the results that 57 of these districts had policies that allowed students’ gender identity to be hidden from parents.
PDE found that 59 percent of K-12 students in Maine attended public schools where these policies exist, including the largest school districts in the state, such as Portland Public Schools and Lewiston Public Schools. PDE President Nicole Neily joined McMahon in the announcement of the investigation and praised the Trump administration.
“The parents have a right to know what is taking place while their children are under the care of school personnel,” Neily said. “So many of these complaints were ignored by the previous administration. The practice of leaving parents in the dark while schools pushed students to undergo so-called ‘gender transitions’ and it became all too common. We’re proud to stand with you and President Trump as you ensure that the law is being followed and that school districts do not infringe on parents’ rights.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt praised Trump as the “Parents’ Rights President” for the investigation and called out the Biden administration for supporting these actions from school districts.
“The Biden Administration supported schools immorally keeping secrets from parents about their own children,” she wrote on X. “President Trump and Secretary McMahon are putting a stop to it.”
On the same day as the investigation was launched, DOE sent a letter to “Chief State School Officers and Superintendents at educational institutions receiving federal funding notifying them of their compliance obligations” under FERPA and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). The department explained that schools must comply with these laws and “allow parents to review all education records of their student, including any document related to a student’s ‘gender identity.’”
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
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