President Donald Trump warned public schools on Monday that they could face serious consequences if they allow students to undergo gender-related changes without notifying their parents, as his administration escalates its push to expand parental control over education.
“Every public school in America is now on notice that if they tell a child that they’re trapped in the wrong body, they are committing child abuse,” Trump said at a back-to-school event in the White House Rose Garden.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said her department is working with the Department of Justice to ensure school districts do not exercise greater authority over children than their parents. “If they subject children to radical experiments and sideline parents, they will lose their federal funding,” she said. McMahon accused the previous administration of allowing schools to conceal gender-transition decisions from families, and specifically pointed to California, saying the administration had identified what it described as widespread violations there and had put schools on notice.
Trump said his administration had moved quickly to remove gender ideology and critical race theory from public schools since returning to office. “We’re systematically ending every single one of these radical left betrayals, and we’re putting the parents back in charge,” he said. “They’re the ones that love our children. They’re the ones that should be in charge.”
He also cited his administration’s policy barring transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports, and touted the Education Freedom Tax Credit, part of last year’s Big Beautiful Bill Act, which allows taxpayers a credit of up to $1,700 for contributions to scholarship-granting nonprofits that fund private, public, or religious school tuition and related costs.
The warning builds on earlier action: the Education Department previously sent a letter to state leaders threatening the loss of federal funds for K-12 schools that don’t follow its interpretation of civil rights laws, including around diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. The federal government provides roughly 10 percent of total school funding nationally, with Title I — one of its largest grants — set at more than $18.38 billion this fiscal year and benefiting nearly 90 percent of U.S. school districts.
No response from former Biden administration officials or the school systems named was included in the reporting available.
