(March 27, 2024 – San Diego, California) Thomas More Society welcomes the U.S. Department of Education’s investigation into the California Department of Education (CDE), announced on March 27, 2025, for alleged violations of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). This federal probe targets California state policies that mandate educators to withhold critical information from parents about their own children’s gender presentation, aligning with Thomas More Society’s ongoing legal battle against harmful “Parental Exclusion Policies” in California schools in its landmark Mirabelli v. Olson case.  

The investigation centers on the CDE’s role in directing school districts statewide to adopt Parental Exclusion Policies, and the impact of AB 1955, which was signed into law in July 2024. AB 1955 prohibits schools from requiring school staff to notify parents when their children socially transition in school, and shields educators and administrators that facilitate such secrecy. Thomas More Society won the first injunction in the country against one of these policies in Mirabelli, a position now reinforced by the U.S. Department of Education’s recent action. Thomas More Society attorneys represent teachers and parents there in a statewide class action lawsuit, challenging the California Department of Education’s and California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s efforts to force teachers to hide from parents their own children’s gender presentation.

Thomas More Society previously sounded the alarm against AB 1955 as an attempt to enshrine parental deception into state law, in the wake of its preliminary injunction in Mirabelli, issued by U.S. District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez, who labeled a school district’s Parental Exclusion Policy a “trifecta of harm” to students, parents, and teachers. The groundbreaking September 2023 preliminary injunction provided a robust analysis explaining how Parental Exclusion Policies violate the federal constitutional rights of both teachers and parents. The lawsuit is now moving forward with additional teacher-plaintiffs and parents affected by secrecy mandates, as part of a class action suit seeking statewide protection against California’s Parental Exclusion Policies. On March 27, in Mirabelli v. Olson, Thomas More Society attorneys asked the court to take judicial notice of the U.S. Department of Education’s investigation against the California Department of Education.  

Paul Jonna, Thomas More Society Special Counsel and Partner, LiMandri & Jonna LLP, reacted: “The federal government’s investigation is a welcome move after years of litigation against California’s radical scheme to deceive parents about their own children. In Mirabelli v. Olson, we’ve exposed the damage of these policies—harm to young children, betrayal of parents, and coercion of teachers. California’s AB 1955 doubled down on this secrecy, and now the U.S. Department of Education is rightfully stepping in to ensure compliance with federal law. We will continue fighting this battle in federal court and hope to put this issue to rest once and for all—by obtaining class-wide relief on behalf of all California teachers and parents affected by these dangerous secrecy mandates.”

Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Executive Vice President & Head of Litigation, added: “We’re grateful for the Department of Education’s investigation into California’s Parental Exclusion Policies. Our clients, teachers who refuse to lie and parents who demand the truth, have been the strong backbone of this fight in California. We hope that the combination of our class action lawsuit and the U.S. government’s investigation will prove a powerful ‘one-two punch’ that will deliver a knockout blow to these policies in California, along with showing the path to defeat these policies across the entire country. We’re closer than ever to dismantling these policies permanently, protecting truth-telling teachers, and restoring every California parent’s right to be involved in their child’s health and well-being.”

Read background on the Thomas More Society case, Mirabelli, et al. v. Olson, et al., here.