Bonta Sues To Block Trump Funding Threat Over Student ‘forced Outing’ Law

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is suing the Trump administration in an effort to preemptively block it from pulling federal funding over a state law regarding how schools notify parents about a student’s gender identity.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the Northern District of California, claims the Trump administration’s threat last month to withhold education funds creates an “imminent risk of irreparable harm” to the state. It also argues that the administration does not have authority to “impose new conditions” on California to receive the money.

The state receives $4.9 billion a year for schools from the federal government, according to the filing. Bonta, who is seeking a temporary restraining order to block the threatened funding cut, said in a statement that the Department of Education is trying to “intimidate” state officials under the guise of enforcing federal law.

“If this funding were disrupted, children in California would suffer irreparable, lifelong harms to their intellectual and personal development,” the lawsuit states.

At issue is a California law that aims to prevent forced outings of students by barring school districts from requiring that staff share information with parents about their child’s gender identity. Last month, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said a federal investigation determined state officials “egregiously abused” their authority and that the law had the effect of pressuring local school districts to keep quiet about transgender students. McMahon said the state could resolve the alleged violations by directing districts to make parents aware of the “gender support plans” they have for students and to clarify for district officials that the state law, AB 1955, does not override federal law.

State education officials have maintained that the state is in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that gives parents the right to inspect their child's school records. They wrote again in a letter to school districts on Wednesday that AB 1955 “does not contradict parents' rights to request to inspect and review their student's education records under FERPA, even if they contain information related to a student's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.”

A date for a hearing on the restraining order has not been set.