3.2 million US children attend public schools that conceal students’ gender identities from parents

According to an investigation conducted by the conservative group Parents Defending Education, more than 3.2 million American children attend public schools that have policies in place to conceal students’ gender identities from parents.

Last summer, the Biden administration proposed new Title IX rules that would allow all U.S. public school employees to withhold children’s gender status from parents. Those regulations could become federal policy if approved in May.

PDE compiled a list of public school districts across the United States with policies that currently “openly state” district officials can or should hide a student’s gender status from his or her parents.

The controversial district policies have already sparked legal battles across the nation.

The nonprofit notes that the list is not comprehensive but, so far, includes 5,904 schools from 168 districts nationwide. The list contains two of the largest school districts in the country, Chicago Public Schools and Los Angeles Unified School District.

Other districts on the list include D.C. Public Schools, Baltimore City Public Schools, San Francisco Unified School District, Portland Public Schools, Seattle Public Schools, and the School District of Philadelphia.

In Washington state, 25 districts currently have policies that allow district employees to withhold gender status information from parents. Sixteen school districts in Pennsylvania have similar policies, as well as nine in New Jersey, four in Kansas, three in Iowa, and 11 in Idaho.

President of PDE Nicole Neily told the New York Post that the study revealed that districts all over the country adopted similar gender policies, even those in conservative areas.

“This investigation shows that parental exclusion policies are a problem from coast to coast — and that living in a red state doesn’t mean that families are automatically shielded from this issue,” Neily stated.

Neily noted that the probe “only begins to scratch the surface of what is taking place behind closed doors in America’s schools.”

“Without a doubt, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of others with similar policies on the books. We urge everyone to keep an eye out — and to let us know if they find something similar in their backyard,” she added.

Luke Berg of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty stated that he believes gender policies in public schools are even more widespread than those uncovered in the PDE’s investigation because the guidelines are “not always written down.”

“In our view,” Berg stated, “all of these policies violate parents’ constitutional rights under the United States Constitution, and possibly many state constitutions as well.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!