DOJ files lawsuit against Kansas School District over parental rights and left-wing gender policies

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon arrives for a news conference at the Justice Department on September 29, 2025 in Washington, DC.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a landmark lawsuit against Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, alleging the district facilitated students’ social gender transitions without notifying or receiving consent from their parents.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ Civil Rights Division condemned unannounced gender transitions in Kansas schools, citing Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) violations.

FERPA and PPRA are in place to “safeguard parental rights, including the rights to access and oversee information collected and maintained about their children in public schools,” per the DOJ.

In a DOJ statement on Tuesday, Dhillon fiercely defended the fundamental right of parents to oversee and direct their children’s upbringing, taking aim at public schools that push radical gender ideology on young minds and exclude families from life-altering decisions.

 

“Parental rights are paramount in the operation of America’s public schools, and Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools does not know children better than their own parents,” Dhillon said. “The Department will not tolerate school districts playing fast and loose with federal law in the service of radical gender ideology.”

On Tuesday, Dhillon celebrated the lawsuit in an X post.

“[The DOJ] files first-of-its-kind suit against Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools for secretly helping kids “transition” genders at school—behind parents’ backs,” Dhillon wrote on X. “No consent, no notice, just a hidden policy—violating FERPA & PPRA. [DOJ Civil Rights Division] is taking it to court!”

 

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon

 

echoed those sentiments, commending the Trump administration’s commitment to enforcing federal law, safeguarding parental rights and stopping school districts from pushing ideological agendas on students.

“For decades, schools operated with little accountability as federal parental rights laws like FERPA and PPRA went unenforced, allowing some districts to cut parents out of deeply personal matters involving their own children,” explained McMahon. “That era is over. The Trump Administration is enforcing these laws at an unprecedented scale and making clear that schools cannot hide sensitive information from parents and expect to operate with impunity. We are grateful to the Department of Justice for taking this next step and for its continued partnership with the Department of Education to enforce federal law and protect the fundamental rights of parents.”

 

U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser for the District of Kansas

 

 noted the importance of a cohesive partnership between schools and parents, emphasizing that such a relationship cannot be reached if schools continue to withhold information from families.

“This lawsuit should not come as a surprise,” said Kriegshauser remarked. “Public education functions effectively only when schools and parents engage in a genuine partnership. When schools withhold information from parents, they undermine trust and disrupt the essential balance between families and public educators.”