Defending Education Urges Supreme Court to Grant Review in Case Pitting Labor Board Against Parents and School Districts

On May 18, 2026, Defending Education, together with Advancing American Freedom and other organizations, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Rocklin Unified School District v. Public Employment Relations Board, urging the Supreme Court to review the case. The case concerns several interrelated issues that the school district has asked the court to settle. First, it asks whether a state labor board’s ruling, which invalidated a school district policy requiring parental notification on student gender transitions at school, violates a parent’s Fourteenth Amendment right to direct the upbringing and care of their children. It also asks whether California’s system—which permits a state labor board to settle disputes affecting constitutional rights—satisfies procedural due process requirements. Finally, it asks whether a state labor board exceeds its jurisdiction by assessing the legality of a school board policy requiring notification to parents when a student attempts to socially transition their gender at school.

This case presents important issues of parental authority, government power, and procedural safeguards, and Defending Education is hopeful that the Supreme Court will settle these questions both in California and across the country by granting review.