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DOJ Investigates Illinois School Districts for Violating Parental Rights With LGBT Content

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced it was investigating whether Illinois schools are teaching students “sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) content” – and whether they are notifying parents of their right to opt their children out of this instruction. 

According to a press release, the DOJ will be investigating 36 school districts across the state. The Civil Rights Division added: 

The investigation will also assess whether the Illinois School Districts limit access to single-sex intimate spaces (such as bathrooms and locker rooms) and girls sports teams based on biological sex.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon detailed the need for the investigation, saying: 

This Department of Justice is determined to put an end to local school authorities keeping parents in the dark about how sexuality and gender ideology are being pushed in classrooms. 

Supreme Court precedent leaves no doubt: parents have the fundamental right and primary authority to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children. This includes exempting their children from ideological instruction that contradicts their values or decisions about their children’s health and best interests.

The DOJ statement said Illinois schools might be violating Title IX requirements as well as two recent Supreme Court decisions that affirm parental rights: Mahmoud v. Taylor (June 2025) and Mirabelli v. Bonta (March 2026). The department noted Illinois schools receive “hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer funding.”

Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in education programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. It was intended to provide equal opportunities for girls and women in education, but schools have violated the law by allowing boys into girls sports, restrooms and locker rooms. 

Mahmoud v. Taylor involved a case where young children in Maryland were required to read LGBT books without their parents’ knowledge or consent. In a 6-3 ruling, the Court held schools can’t force children to participate in LGBT classroom material without offering parents the right to opt out based on sincerely held religious beliefs.

In Mirabelli, the Court ruled against California policies that required schools to hide information about a child’s sexual identity confusion. Pointing to previous decisions, the Court made clear: 

The right protected by these precedents includes the right not to be shut out of participation in decisions regarding their children’s mental health. 

Because of Illinois state agency requirements and state laws, it’s most likely that all these districts are violating Title IX and the two Supreme Court decisions. 

The Illinois High School Association, for example, has allowed “transgender athletes” – boys who claim to be girls – to play in girls sports since 2011. The state’s Human Rights Commission ruled in 2019 that public schools must allow “transgender” students access to the restrooms and locker rooms that matched their “gender identity.” 

The Illinois Board of Education issued “best practices” for “Supporting Transgender, Nonbinary and Gender Nonconforming Students” that follow that directive. The guidance also tells schools to follow a student’s lead with name and pronoun changes, including whether or not to tell parents. 

As far as classroom instruction, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed SB 246 into law in 2019, requiring public schools to teach “the roles and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the history of this country and this state.” 

The law directed schools to teach students “LGBT” history by eighth grade, and students must“demonstrate evidence of having a comprehensive knowledge thereof” in order to graduate from eighth grade. 

This may be difficult for Illinois students to demonstrate when just over half are proficient in reading – and that achievement came only after the state lowered test standards. But it seems teaching gay and transgender ideology is more important than basic skills.

Since teaching about L-, G-, B- or T-identified people is a state-wide history curriculum mandate, it’s unlikely that any Illinois schools notify parents about this subject matter.  

Six other states also mandate inclusion of LGBT ideology in social studies: California, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington.

If your child’s school or school district has violated your parental rights, you can file a complaint with the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights.

America First Legal released an updated parental opt-out templatefollowing the recent Supreme Court decisions in Mahmoud and Mirabelli. 

Related articles and resources: 

Back to School with LGBT Social Studies

Barrett v. Kagan: Key Takeaways From Supreme Court Ruling on ‘Transgender’ School Policies

Exclusive Interview: Colorado Parents Expose ‘Gender Cult’ at Public School in New Documentary

Montgomery County Must Pay $1.5 Million to Religious Parents After Supreme Court Ruling

Supreme Court Affirms Parents’ Rights Over California’s ‘Transgender’ School Policies

Supreme Court Defends Religious Freedom, Parental Rights Over ‘LGBT’ Curriculum

Transgender Resources

What’s Your School District’s ‘Transgender’ Policy?

If you’re concerned about what your child is being taught in school, check out this updated, free resource from Focus on the Family and Family Policy Alliance: Equipping Parents for Back-to-School.

We want parents to feel confident and equipped to manage issues affecting public – and private and online – schooling. The FREE downloadable resourcehelps you be aware of what’s going on in your child’s classroom and offers guidance for how to advocate for your child in the school year ahead.

‘Save Girls Sports’ on the November Ballot — Here’s How You Can Help

Voters in Colorado, Maine and Washington will have the opportunity to protect girls and women’s sports from male athletes this November. Two more states, Nebraska and Nevada, are also looking to qualify similar measures for the fall ballot. 

Many conservatives think that President Donald Trump’s executive orders and the Department of Education actions have completely stopped males from competing in girls and women’s sports in public schools. But the truth is, many states are fighting the administration’s actions, and males continue to take awards, records and spots on teams from female athletes.

Earlier this month, a young man named AB Hernandez tripled at the Mt. SAC Invitational, in Walnut, California, winning the girls long jump, triple jump and high jump. This male-bodied athlete knocked high school girls off the podium and out of the record books. Hernandez also won state titles in the women’s high jump and triple jump at the championship in May 2025. 

Similar incidents have recently taken place in other states, including Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota and West Virginia. 

With so many states violating Title IX, it’s important to have laws on the books safeguarding girls in sports, locker rooms and restrooms. Twenty-six state legislatures have protected girls sports, but where legislators have failed to act, citizens are now taking action to pass “Save Girls Sports” ballot measures. 

In Colorado, an entirely grassroots effort was successful in placing the Colorado Sex Requirement for School and College Sports Initiative on the fall ballot. Protect Kids Colorado worked with more than 3,000 volunteers and hundreds of churches to gather 170,000 signatures for the citizen-initiated ballot initiative. 

The measure acknowledges the truth about male-female differences and the necessity for sex segregated sports and locker rooms:  

Physical differences between males and females have long made separate and sex-specific sports teams important so that female athletes can have equal opportunities to compete in sports while reducing the risk of physical injury.

The proposed law would define males and females based on human reproductive systems and mandates that interscholastic and intramural teams and sports designated for girls or women “shall not be open to a male student or participant.” 

A group has already formed to fight the initiative. Families Not Politics is supported by LGBT activists and their allies, including Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, Colorado PTA, Queer Futures, One Colorado and the League of Women Voters. 

An Act to Designate School Sports Participation and Facilities by Sex qualified for the November 3 ballot in Maine after supporters submitted more than 71,000 signatures to Maine Sec. of State Shanna Bellows. 

The initiative would designate sports teams in public schools to be for males, females or coeducational, by students’ sex as recorded at birth on their original birth certificate. The initiative would also require schools to “maintain separate restrooms, locker rooms, shower rooms and other private spaces for each sex,” guarding students’ safety and privacy. 

Protect Girls Sports in Maine sponsored the initiative, which was supported by a coalition of more than 8,000 men, Maine Girl Dads. Protect Girls Sports is protesting Sec. Bellows’ draft wording of the referendum, which focuses on the change to Maine’s laws that give special status to “gender identity”: 

Do you want to change civil rights and education laws to require public schools to restrict access to bathrooms and sports based on the gender on the child’s original birth certificate and allow students to sue the schools?

The organization says this is misleading for four reasons: 

  • The act does not “change civil rights laws” as sex is already a protected class.
  • All private spaces, not just bathrooms, are protected.
  • Designation is based on “sex,” not “gender.”
  • “Sue schools” misrepresents the intent to simply and commonly enforce civil rights.

Washington state will decide on Initiative Measure IL26-638, Protecting Fairness in Girls Sports, after Let’s Go Washington collected more than 416,000 signatures to place the initiative on November’s ballot. The state legislature had the option to pass the measure, but since legislators would not vote to keep female athletes safe, voters will now decide. 

The Family Policy Institute of Washington, a Focus on the Family ally, supports the measure. Its president, Brian Noble, told the Daily Citizen the initiative process demonstrates “how citizens in Washington can impact policy despite conservatives being significantly outnumbered in both the Washington House and Senate.” 

Let’s Go Washington explains that the ballot measure “would ban biological boys from competing in girls sports by requiring the student athlete’s doctor to note their gender during their routine sports physical.” It overturns state policies that allow “transgender and nonbinary students” to play on teams based on their “gender identity.” 

In Nebraska and Nevada, groups are working hard to place protections for female athletes on the ballot. 

The Nebraska Family Alliance (NFA) announced the launch of Fairness for Girls, which would add protection for girls sports into the Nebraska Constitution. The initiative requires signatures of 10% of the state’s voters by July in order to be placed on the ballot. 

The Stand for Women Act was signed into law in 2025, but as NFA stated, “Nebraska’s current law is statutory, not constitutional, which can be modified or repealed, as opponents are promising to do.” 

“This isn’t just about sports – it’s about fairness, safety, and truth itself. No girl should ever lose her opportunity to compete for championships and scholarships to a man,” NFA added. 

The Nevada Biological Sex Requirements for School Sports Programs Amendment would amend the state Constitution to keep males out of girls sports. 

Governor Joe Lombardo announced the initiative in a press release, saying it “would amend the Equal Rights Amendment to protect fairness and integrity in girls’ athletics.” Voters approved the state’s Equal Rights Amendment in 2022, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of a variety of characteristics, including “gender identity.” 

The Protect Girls Sports political action committee was formed to collect the almost 150,000 signatures needed by June 24 to place the measure on the November ballot.  

The website She Won lists almost 3400 female athletes who have lost medals, records, scholarships or other opportunities to males. 

To help stop this unfairness, concerned citizens can volunteer, sign petitions, collect signatures, pray and support the groups listed in this article who are working to protect girls and women’s sports. 

Photo: AB Hernandez, Getty Images

Related articles and resources: 

Christian Civic League of Maine

How to Get in Touch With Your State Policy Group

Family Policy Institute of Washington

Nebraska Family Alliance

Protect Girls Sports Nevada 

Protect Kids Colorado

#SaveGirlsSports – New Campaign Launched by Family Policy Alliance

Top 5 Moments From Supreme Court Arguments Over Girls Sports

Why Are Teachers Unions Celebrating ‘May Day’ – A Communist Workers Holiday?

The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are joining other leftist groups and encouraging members to celebrate May Day Strong National Day of Action with hundreds of rallies across the country. 

To be clear, the events taking place on May 1 aren’t a celebration of spring, with frolicking around maypoles, wearing flower wreaths and delivering baskets of spring blossoms to friends. 

May Day, also known as International Workers Day, started as a commemoration of a violent labor feud in Chicago in 1886, with workers protesting unsafe working conditions and striking to win an eight-hour workday. But anarchist, Marxist, socialist and labor groups quickly adopted the day in 1899. 

Communist countries used May Day to celebrate their military power and the government takeover of private property and the means of production. 

May Day Strong is an anti-capitalist political event, rooted in Marxist and socialist ideologies. 

But I’m sure the educators in these unions know their history. 

Many individual teachers love children, do good work and are subject matter experts, but it’s clear that the two largest teachers unions have been co-opted by radical activists. 

The NEA and AFT are part of a May Day Strong coalition, with hundreds of other leftist member groups promoting this year’s focus: “Workers Over Billionaires.” These extremist organizations are calling for a day of “No work. No school. No shopping.” 

The NEA explains what the Day of Action entails, saying: 

This May Day will be a day of rallies, marches, teach-ins, labor actions, and a refusal of business as usual – because when those at the top rig the system, collective action is how we set it right.

The NEA is the largest labor union in the U.S., claiming 2.8 million members. It has created a May Day 2026 Toolkit and a Walk-In Guide for educators to use as they “join workers, parents, students, and community members to rise up for dignity, justice, and public investment in our lives, not in billionaires’ profit margins.” 

Walk-Ins are 30-45 minute events before the school day where “parents, educators, and students, along with neighbors and community leaders” meet in front of their school for a rally. During school hours, teachers are encouraged to have students create artwork and write reports about the day. 

Again, this is a political event, with teachers unions encouraging the indoctrination of children into Marxist and socialist ideologies. 

The NEA lists its “demands to build the society we ALL deserve”: 

  • “Stop the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of the Trump administration.”
  • “Protect and defend Medicaid, Social Security and other programs working people rely on.”
  • “Fully fund public schools, healthcare and housing for all.”
  • “Stop the attacks on our communities, including policies targeting immigrants, people of color, Native people, people with disabilities, and those who identify as LGBTQ+.”

The AFT and NEA join dozens of extremist anti-capitalist groups like the Communist Party USA, Labor Notes, Socialists Alternative and Democratic Socialists of America to celebrate and promote Marxist ideologies. 

In a post on X, Moms for Liberty questioned why teachers unions are pushing children toward leftist political dogma – instead of teaching the basics: 

Teachers unions are supposed to teach kids, not mobilize political agitation. 

Now NEA, WEA [Washington Education Association], AFT, and Seattle Ed are backing May Day Strong, pushing “educate, agitate, organize,” walk-ins, and power-building. 

Parents should be asking: what exactly are our schools being used for?

Meanwhile, the Chicago Teachers Union, one of the largest AFT local groups, is calling for total school closures and promoting participation in the event as a “civic duty.” 

Parents of children in public schools generally think their local schools are doing a good job. And, again, many schools and teachers do terrific work. 

But national surveys demonstrate low academic achievement among most students. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation’s Report Card, fewer than two thirds of American eighth graders can do math (26%), read (30%), or do science (31%) at grade level.

Despite their rhetoric, teachers unions don’t advocate for students – they advocate for teachers. Perhaps if educators spent less time agitating, organizing and power-building, we would see students performing better. 

Focus on the Family’s “Equipping Parents for Back-to-School” helps you be aware of what’s happening in the classroom and empowers you to advocate for your child in school. The free, downloadable resource offers insights about exercising school choice and protecting children’s free speech and religious liberty.

Related articles and resources: 

BLM at School Week – Indoctrinating and Training Radical Activist Children

‘Critical Social Justice’ in Education – If it Can Happen in Idaho, It Can Happen Anywhere

Cynthia Tobias – ‘Reclaiming Education: Teach Your Child to Be a Confident Learner’

Educators, Parents and Students Rally to Support National School Choice Week

‘Equipping Parents For Back-To-School’ – Updated Resource Empowers Parents

Is ‘Critical Race Theory’ Being Taught in Public Schools? CRT Deniers Claim it Isn’t

The National Education Association Wants to Indoctrinate Children Across the Country

NEA Subverts Parents, Says Teachers Know ‘Better Than Anyone’ What Students Need

What’s Happening in Schools? Why We Need Educational Freedom

California, America Grapple with ‘Epidemic of Sexual Abuse’ in Schools

A California school district failed to properly investigate more than 100 allegations of sexual misconduct perpetrated against students by school employees over nearly a decade, investigators determined last month.

The disturbing findings are the latest development in what lawyer John Manly, who represents victims of sex abuse and assault, calls “an epidemic of sexual abuse in California by teachers, coaches and other school employees.”

California’s attorney general’s office began investigating El Monte Union High School District in late 2023 after Business Insider published “The Predators’ Playground,” a harrowing article documenting decades of educator sexual abuse at El Monte’s Rosemead High School.

The subsequent 18-month investigation, which concluded in March, determined El Monte “failed to conduct legally compliant investigations” into more than 100 cases of sexual misconduct allegations dating back to 2018.

The state also discovered at least five cases in which a staff member continued to abuse and harass students after another staffer failed to report either the perpetrator’s misconduct or allegations against the perpetrator.

School employees in California must legally report allegations, suspicions or accounts of child sexual abuse to law enforcement within 36 hours. Failure to do so can result in up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Yet, according to Manly, El Monte employees aren’t the only ones violating California’s mandatory reporting laws.

“In the vast majority of cases, the mandatory reporting statute is ignored and schools investigate [sexual misconduct allegations] themselves,” the attorney told investigative journalist Catherine Herridge in February.

“The problem when institutions or people investigate themselves, in my experience, is they rarely find themselves guilty.”

At a press conference on the El Monte investigation’s conclusion, California Attorney General Rob Bonta admitted he expects to confront similar cases in the future.

“I don’t think this will be the last case of this type, unfortunately,” he told reporters.

California school districts have lost more than $3 billion in sexual abuse cases since 2020, when the state extended its statute of limitations on crimes of child sexual abuse.

But Bonta also believes his office’s reforms can rehabilitate districts like El Monte.

“We think we’ve arrived at a model that can help districts that have failed systemically, transform,” he said.

El Monte will undergo a lengthy period of state supervision following the investigation, including:

  • State oversight of the district’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations.
  • Creating a list of all substitute teachers “found to have violated employee policy on appropriate boundaries with students.”
  • Training parents and students to better recognize signs of grooming and abuse.

The reforms compliment a new California law, which Governor Gavin Newsom signed in October 2025, creating a non-public database of school staff accused of misconduct.

While these provisions might well reduce educator sexual abuse in El Monte, they won’t “transform” it, or any other compromised districts, because they don’t address the legislative, cultural and institutional problems which perpetuate child predation in schools.

Most glaringly, Bonta’s model doesn’t address the reality that it is often faster and cheaper for schools to “pass the trash,” or shuffle school employees accused of sexual misconduct to other schools or districts, than it is to fire them.

“In public education in most states, it’s next to impossible to fire a bad teacher.” Manly tells Herridge. “They actually pay them to go away, even if they’ve sexually abused children.”

These predators get passed along to an average of three schools, often ending up in a low-income areas with a disproportionate number of vulnerable students and fewer parents with means to protect their children.

Bonta’s plan, which addresses district-by-district wrongdoing, cannot fix the fact that California law does not require schools notify parents if their child says a school employee sexually assaulted them or if another student makes an allegation of sexual misconduct against their child’s teacher.

California parents must also file a public records request to obtain any data about reported allegations of or disciplinary actions for sexual misconduct.

Manly puts it in perspective:

No one knows how many teachers have abused. Nobody knows how many teachers have been credibly accused. Nobody knows how many teachers in the state have been suspended or have had their licenses suspended. It’s completely opaque, and it shouldn’t be.

Bonta’s plan certainly doesn’t address the role teachers’ unions play in negotiating confidentiality clauses and non-disclosure agreements preventing schools from alerting future employers about sexual misconduct allegations against a former employee.

These structural problems allow educator sexual abuse to continue unchecked. Legislators and school officials must tackle them for district-by-district reforms like Bonta’s to be most effective.

Unfortunately, the epidemic of sexual abuse by school employees is not just in California. It’s a national issue — and has been for decades.

Charol Shakeshaft, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and the foremost authority on educator sexual abuse, estimates nearly 1 in 5 children (17%) in America experience sexual misconduct by a school employee.

The same obstacles that afflict California — passing the trash, failure to enforce mandatory reporting laws, lack of transparency and consistent reporting and predators using teachers’ unions as shields — plague every other state in the nation, too, to varying degrees.

The question isn’t whether there are victims; it’s whether schools will document victims’ claims and, subsequently, whether victims can take their cases to court.

Educator sexual abuse is prevalent and frightening. The Daily Citizen is buckling down to get you the information you need to protect your children. Stay tuned.

Additional Articles and Resources

Counseling Services

Abusive Relationships

Passing the Trash: Here’s What Parents Need to Know About Educator Sexual Misconduct

Usha Vance Launches ‘Storytime With the Second Lady’ 

Second lady Usha Vance announced a new podcast for kids, “Storytime with the Second Lady.” She launched the event by reading Beatrix Potter’sThe Tale of Peter Rabbit.

The initiative comes at a time when national reading scores are down and fewer students are reading for pleasure. 

Vance explained that the effort to encourage children to read comes from her own love of books and her desire to improve children’s literacy: 

Reading for pleasure at home builds stronger literacy and classroom skills and opens the door to a world of opportunity for children. I’m excited to invite special guests to share great stories, spread their love of reading, and help reverse the decline of childhood literacy rates in our country.

In a post on X, the second lady invited parents and children to join her in hearing books read aloud.

In the first episode of the podcast, available on YouTube and Spotify, Vance described reading with her own children, Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel:  

I’ve always loved reading, from when I was a kid until today. And now as a mom, story time with my kids is the highlight of my day. 

Books have taken our family on so many adventures. Through books, we’ve learned so many new things about science and nature, far away countries, ancient civilizations,America’s history, and more. Most of all, we’ve had lots of fun reading together. I thought it would be even more fun to share story time with all of you.

The second lady then went on to read The Tale of Peter Rabbit, the classic by Potter (spoiler alert), where mischievous Peter Rabbit disobeys his mother and comes to regret it. Old Mrs. Rabbit specifically instructs her children not to get into mischief, nor go into Mr. McGregor’s garden where his poor father “had an accident there” and “was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.” 

Naughty Peter, of course, goes straight to the garden, eats some vegetables and almost suffers the same fate as his father. Thankfully, he escapes, albeit with the loss of his shoes and new blue jacket. 

The lesson is learned though: Listen to your parents or you’ll get sick and have to drink a spoonful of chamomile tea, while your sisters eat bread, milk and blackberries for dinner. 

In the second podcast, former professional racing driver Danica Patrick joined Vance to read two stories from Walt Disney’s Cars franchise. In the third episode, paralympic athlete Brent Poppen, who won a bronze medal in Wheelchair Rugby at the 2004 Athens Games, read his own book, Playground Lessons-Friendship and Forgiveness: Harley and His Wheelchair. 

The initiative comes at a time when reading for pleasure is at an all-time low. In 2024, a report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Nation’s Report Card, showed that only 31% of fourth grade students and 30% of eighth graders were reading at the proficient level or above. 

The NAEP also found a downward trend in numbers of nine-year-old students reading for fun. In 1984, 53% read almost every day and 28% read once or twice a week for fun. In 2022, those numbers had dropped to 39% and 25%, respectively. 

Sixteen percent of nine-year-olds in 2022 never or hardly ever read for fun, compared with 9% in 1984. 

Similarly, a study published in September 2025 from the University of Florida and University College London “found that daily reading for pleasure in the United States has declined by more than 40% over the last 20 years.” 

Research demonstrates that reading for pleasure “is linked to greater intellectual progress, both in vocabulary, spelling and mathematics.” Leisure reading is connected with academic achievement, better career prospects and emotional well-being. 

Vance has developed other initiatives to improve reading skills in children, such as the Summer Reading Challenge, where children read 12 books to receive a small prize and a chance to visit the Capitol, and the Bookmark Design Challenge, where students submit designs connected with America’s 250th Anniversary.

The Daily Citizen wishes the second lady success as she works to encourage reading in America’s students. 

Related articles and resources: 

5 Positive Effects Reading Has on Child Development

22 Books Kids Read at School

60 Classic Adventure Books for Children

The Blessings of Books: Plugged In’s Year-End Picks

Brilliant Books 2022: Plugged In’s Year-End Picks

Gobble-Worthy Books 2023: Plugged In’s Yearly Picks

Best Books of 2024: Plugged In’s Year-End Picks

Connecting With Your Kids Through Reading

Good Books for Kids to Read: How to Find Them

How to Find Great Books to Read to Your Kids

How to Raise Kids Who Love Reading

Keep Lots of Books in Your Home – It Matters for Your Children

Nearly Half of Americans Read Zero Books in 2025