Trump education secretary threatens Kansas schools over trans student privacy policy

The Trump administration threatened to withhold federal funding from a Kansas school district over its trans-inclusive policies.

Claiming support for “parental rights,” the U.S. Department of Education said it will partner with the Justice Department to pressure Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools over privacy protections for trans youth. That includes lawsuits demanding a change in policy and the withholding of federal funding from the district.

“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 Education Secretary Linda McMahon in a statement on the department's website. “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.”

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The two federal agencies entered a joint agreement last month to “bolster and expedite the enforcement of our nation’s parental and civil rights laws.” That includes advancing the administration’s view of civil rights in ways that allow discrimination against transgender people.

The Kansas school district has a policy aimed at preventing the forced outing of transgender students, explicitly directing “that school personnel 'should not disclose information that may reveal a student's transgender status or gender nonconforming presentation to others, including parents,'" Reuters reports.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said the policy tramples on the rights of parents to make decisions about their children’s well-being.

“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,” Dhillon said. “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.”

The Advocate has reached out to the school district for comment.

In 2025, shortly after the start of Trump’s second term, the Education Department sent letters to state superintendents across the country urging compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which requires public schools to provide parents with access to student records.

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“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 represent a serious and deliberate breach of federal law,” said Frank Miller, Director of the Student Privacy Policy Office at the Education Department. “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.”

Since 2024, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has threatened legal action against districts with anti-outing policies, even though no state law exists on the matter in Kansas.