U.S. Department of Education Partners with the U.S. Department of Justice to Protect Parental Rights

Today, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) announced it will work alongside the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to protect parental rights in Kansas. In April 2026, the Department's Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) found that Kansas City, Kansas Public School District (the District) has policies that violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Now, given the District's ongoing refusal to come into voluntary compliance with the Federal parental rights law, SPPO and DOJ's Civil Rights Division (CRT) will take appropriate enforcement measures, including applicable judicial proceedings and potential loss of federal funding, for the District's failure to substantially comply with the requirements under FERPA.

The District maintained a policy stating that school personnel "should not disclose information that may reveal a student's transgender status or gender nonconforming presentation to others, including parents." SPPO's investigation revealed clear evidence that District administrators positively reject their legal responsibility to honestly answer parents' inquiries about their children's health and wellbeing. Despite the Department's proposed Resolution Agreement, which outlined specific actions the District should take to remedy their FERPA violations, the District continues to ignore federal parental rights law.

In June 2026, the Department entered into an interagency agreement (IAA) with DOJ to bolster and expedite the enforcement of our nation's parental and civil rights laws.

"Thanks to this new partnership, the Department is working more closely than ever with DOJ to ensure schools are protecting children and respecting parental rights," said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. "We are taking important steps to ensure that cases like this are resolved efficiently in partnership with our DOJ counterparts. By streamlining processes and listening to parents, we will reject dangerous political ideologies that harm children and get back to focusing on learning in the classroom."

The Trump Administration's policy is simple: the blatant refusal to acknowledge parental rights will not be tolerated.

"Through this historic partnership, the Department of Justice is working hand-in-hand with the Department of Education to enforce FERPA and give parents what they are already entitled to-access to all of their children's education records," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Department's Civil Rights Division. "The efforts of Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools to block parents from information about their children's health and wellbeing are reprehensible. This Department of Justice will pursue all available avenues to force Kansas City's compliance with federal law and our Constitution."

"Kansas City Kansas Public Schools' sustained efforts to sidestep FERPA, conceal its true policies, and obstruct parents' lawful access to their children's education records represents a serious and deliberate breach of federal law," said Frank Miller, Director of the Student Privacy Policy Office at the U.S. Department of Education. "A strong and coordinated enforcement partnership between the Department of Education and the Department of Justice will ensure districts are held accountable and fully honor parents' rights."

Background

In August 2025, SPPO opened a FERPA investigation into the District based on complaints informing the Department of policies preventing school officials from disclosing a student's "transgender status" to his or her parents. In addition, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon highlighting and expressing concern about the Districts' potential violation of both FERPA and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX).

In April 2026, SPPO determined that the District's policies prevent schools from notifying parents when school personnel are supporting a child's so-called "gender transition," even when parents request specific school records, a clear violation of parents' rights under FERPA. The Department also found the District in violation of Title IX for allowing men to use female restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms. The Department issued the District a Letter of Impending Enforcement Action for its Title IX violations in June 2026.

In June 2026, the Department partnered with DOJ to provide more responsive and coordinated enforcement of our nation's parental rights laws with the goal of continuing enforcement uninterrupted while also cutting red tape and expediting enforcement action.

FERPA is a federal privacy and parental rights law enforced by the Department's SPPO. FERPA gives parents the right to access their children's education records, the right to request record corrections or amendments, and the right to control (with important exceptions) the disclosure of personally identifiable information in education records. Policies that instruct teachers, counselors, and other employees to hide a child's "gender transition" records from parents infringe on parents' rights under FERPA.  

In March 2025, SPPO sent a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) to state superintendents reminding them of their compliance obligations under FERPA and designating the practice of hiding a child's "gender identity" from that child's parents as a "priority concern" for SPPO. Secretary McMahon attached a cover letter to the DCL, stating that "by natural right and moral authority, parents are the primary protectors of their children."  

Violation of FERPA can result in the termination of an educational agency or institution's federal funding.