Justice Department Moves to Enforce FERPA Against School Gender-Transition Policies

Following the Education Department’s announcement that the Justice Department will assume a larger role in civil-rights enforcement in schools, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon outlined a focus on “stopping schools from supporting students’ gender transitions.” The administration’s interagency agreements allow the Justice Department to initiate investigations and prosecutions under its interpretation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a law originally passed in 1974 that grants parents access to their children’s school records.

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The Trump administration has long argued that school policies that conceal a child’s gender identity from parents violate FERPA, a view reinforced by the Supreme Court’s *Mirabelli v. Bonta* decision earlier this year (though the case did not address gender issues directly). The new agreements cover both the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights and the Student Privacy Protection Office, which handles FERPA complaints, and give the Justice Department discretion to “cherry-pick” cases it deems aligned with presidential priorities.

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Dhillon described the partnership as ensuring “maximum enforcement” of FERPA and said the Justice Department will handle “99%” of school-related civil-rights work “soup to nuts.” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kim Richey emphasized that the agreement does not alter the Education Department’s existing practices and that her office remains focused on resolving cases for families. Former education-policy official Kenneth Marcus noted that the shift could lead to “far more cases … going to court” because the Justice Department leans toward litigation rather than mediation.

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Former senior OCR counsel Lilian Sotolongo Dorka warned that the arrangement may be “illegal” and could create “smoke and mirrors” around civil-rights enforcement, arguing it circumvents the Education Department’s statutory authority. She and other advocates fear that compelled disclosure of gender-support plans could jeopardize students’ physical and emotional safety. Marcus also cautioned that the system will fail if it “cannot address the broad range of cases involving well-meaning institutions that probably shouldn’t go to court.”

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• “FERPA protects children and parental rights from illegal gender ideology being forced down their throats,” — Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights

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• “simply ignoring this law and abusing children,” — Harmeet Dhillon

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• “I would expect that far more cases will go to court because they will begin with an agency that leans towards litigation, and I would expect there to be more of a bias towards litigation, as opposed to a bias towards mediation or resolution,” — Kenneth Marcus, President, Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights under Law

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• “The spin that this will be great for civil rights enforcement and education is really smoke and mirrors,” — Lilian Sotolongo Dorka, former senior counsel, Office for Civil Rights

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• “Congress spoke with a clear voice when it guaranteed parents the right to know what information schools are collecting and using regarding their minor children,” — Harmeet Dhillon

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