The U.S. Division of Justice introduced a evaluate of “sexual orientation and gender ideology” instruction in 4 California college districts, days earlier than SFUSD Superintendent Maria Su is about to testify earlier than Congress.
The San Francisco Unified Faculty District Administrative Workplaces in San Francisco on April 18, 2025. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)
The evaluate may also assess insurance policies that enable college students to make use of loos, locker rooms and take part on athletic groups that align with their gender id.
SFUSD didn’t touch upon the announcement. Graves Elementary Faculty District, Santa Rita Union Faculty District and Soledad Unified Faculty District, smaller college districts in Monterey County, had been additionally focused within the evaluate.
The probe comes as Su is about to testify earlier than the Home of Representatives’ Committee on Schooling and the Workforce on Wednesday. She and different city college leaders are anticipated to subject questions on parental rights and course content material throughout the listening to, titled “Breaking Belief: Assaults on Parental Rights, Inappropriate Content material, and Authorized Abuses in America’s Colleges.”
She is going to seem alongside the superintendents of Chicago Public Colleges and Loudoun County, Virginia, which the Division of Justice sued final yr over its gender discrimination insurance policies.
“The Committee is reviewing the district’s compliance with civil rights and training information privateness legal guidelines, and whether or not any additional modifications in regulation could also be wanted to assist make sure that kids are protected and federal funds are spent responsibly,” Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Michigan, stated in an April letter inviting Su to testify.
Walberg stated the committee has not too long ago really helpful a number of payments that may prohibit instruction associated to gender ideology and “sexually oriented supplies,” and require parental consent earlier than altering a minor’s pronouns, in class districts that obtain federal funding.
“The committee is reviewing the district’s compliance with civil rights and training information privateness legal guidelines, and whether or not any additional modifications in regulation could also be wanted to assist make sure that kids are protected and federal funds are spent responsibly,” the letter to Su stated.
The separate evaluate of SFUSD coverage introduced Monday will decide whether or not it’s adhering to Title IX, and whether or not it has taken motion in response to current Supreme Court docket rulings in favor of oldsters’ rights, in keeping with the DOJ.
In March, the Supreme Court docket quickly blocked a California regulation that may ban requiring districts to inform mother and father if their baby elects to alter their gender id or pronouns at college.
Final yr, the court docket additionally dominated {that a} Maryland college district violated the First Modification by not permitting mother and father to choose their elementary school-aged kids out of studying books with LGBTQ+ characters.
“My core educational accountability as Superintendent is obvious: to make sure that SFUSD college students turn into sturdy readers, efficient writers, and assured mathematical thinkers, and that they graduate ready for faculty, profession, and life, and in a position to contribute to their communities,” Su stated in written testimony forward of Wednesday’s listening to. “We at SFUSD take critically our obligations to comply with the regulation, serve each baby, and stay centered on educational excellence.”
