Milwaukee Schools among 1,200 districts with secret student gender transition plans, prompting federal complaint

Three parental rights groups have filed a federal complaint against Milwaukee Public Schools for making secret plans to transition students’ gender without informing parents.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), alongside Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and Parents Defending Education (PDE), filed the complaint this month with the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and Department of Justice (DOJ).

“Parents, not the government, have the right to direct the upbringing, education, and health care of their children,” said Kate Anderson, ADF senior counsel and director of its Center for Parental Rights. “Yet Milwaukee Public Schools is deliberately hiding vital information from moms and dads. In keeping with President Trump’s prioritization of parents’ rights, we are urging the administration to eliminate secretive policies that harm children.” 

Currently, MPS allows staff to create a “Gender Support Plan” and “Gender Communication Plan” for a minor student without notifying the parents, and then to hide those plans from the student’s record to prevent parents from accessing them, the complaint says.

“This policy directly violates the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA),” the WILL wrote in a release. “To its credit, the Trump administration has prioritized enforcing these federal laws. Accordingly, our complaint urges DOE to open an investigation and obtain compliance with federal law, or, if necessary, rescind federal funding.” 

Trump’s DOE has launched investigations into California and Maine for violating his Jan. 29 executive order entitled, “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” which gave the department 90 days to develop a plan to prioritize enforcement of parental rights.  

Maine was found in violation of Trump’s order against promoting transgenderism and allowing males in female sports and private spaces, and has since lost millions in federal funding, proving the administration is serious about enforcing its policies. 

Nicole Neily, president and founder of Parents Defending Education, said that over the past few years, her group has found “over 1200 districts (and counting) with parental exclusion policies that deliberately withhold gender identity information from families.  

“For years, our tax dollars have been weaponized against us by school officials who undermined the parent-child relationship and interfered with our ability to direct the care and upbringing of loved ones—all behind our backs. This is truly an insult to injury, and we ask that the Trump administration take steps to address this egregious overreach in Wisconsin as it has in other states around the country.” 

Luke Berg, WILL deputy counsel, said that while federal law recognizes the role of parents, “school districts around the country have been flouting parental rights. With a new administration that supports parents, we hope that these secret transition policies can be eliminated once and for all.” 

Besides withholding funding if the district won’t rescind its policy, the groups are asking U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and DOE Secretary Linda McMahon to require Milwaukee schools to notify parents of any child who has a secret gender support plan that was made without the parents’ knowledge. 

Milwaukee Public Schools has about 68,000 students spread across 150 schools.