On October 5, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced an enforcement action against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
According to the departments, LAUSD policies direct district employees to "privately ask the student how they want to be referred to when communicating with parents/legal guardians" and to keep a student's self-professed "gender identity" "private" or "confidential," including from parents. ED and DOJ say these policies violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), and that they "have allowed students to make life-altering decisions in secret, unbeknownst to their parents."
What the laws cover. FERPA protects parents' right to access their children's education records, seek amendments to them, and control disclosure of personally identifiable information. PPRA requires schools to notify parents and get written parental consent before students take part in surveys, analyses, or evaluations that ask about sensitive matters, including mental or psychological problems and sex behavior or attitudes.
Letter to every state. The same day, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon sent a joint letter to all state attorneys general. It states that the conditions of federal funding under FERPA and PPRA are "nonnegotiable." It also addresses school "mental health screenings": schools must first notify parents and obtain written consent, and "opt-outs are not sufficient."
"Parents are children's natural providers and protectors," Dhillon said.
Why it matters. School-based social transition (a new name and pronouns at school) is often the first step on a pathway that can lead to puberty blockers, opposite-sex hormones, and surgery. Federal privacy law gives parents the right to know what schools record and ask about their children. This action is an enforcement step, not a final finding against the district.