The Trump administration gave California a deadline to eliminate gender-ideology references from material used in a federally funded program aimed at preventing teen pregnancy, accusing the state of seeking to “indoctrinate our children.” Here’s what you need to know about the federal sex education funding dispute:
The federal ultimatum
Trump administration demands California curriculum changes:
- Administration for Children and Families sent Friday letter to California
- State has 60 days to remove gender-identity passages from program materials
- Must comply with Personal Responsibility Education Program requirements or lose federal grant
- Letter sent to Sydney Armendariz at California Department of Public Health
The official justification
HHS acting assistant secretary explains administration position:
- Andrew Gradison said “Trump administration will not tolerate use of federal funds for programs that indoctrinate our children”
- Called gender ideology content “disturbing” and “unacceptable”
- Said content “well outside the program’s core purpose”
- Administration committed to “radical transparency” for parents about school curricula
The PREP program details
Federal initiative targets teen pregnancy and STD prevention:
- Personal Responsibility Education Program has $75 million national budget
- California received $5,864,762 in PREP funding in fiscal 2023
- Program teaches youth ages 10-19 about abstinence and contraception
- Seeks to reduce teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases
The problematic content examples
Eight passages cited as exceeding program scope:
- “Rights, Respect and Responsibility” curriculum discusses transgender and gender queer identities
- “Making Proud Choices” curriculum defines gender identity for ages 12-18
- “Teen Talk High School” reminds students about anatomy and gender mismatches
- Content addresses people who “don’t identify as boys or girls”
The curriculum quotes
Specific examples of contested material:
- Middle school curriculum: “There are also people who don’t identify as boys or girls, but rather as transgender or gender queer”
- High school material: “Some men are born with female anatomy, some women are born with male anatomy”
- Ages 12-18 curriculum explains when “person’s inner feelings about gender identity don’t match the body”
- Materials discuss students’ “inner sense of your gender”
The legal argument
Administration cites Congressional intent:
- Congress created program to educate on “both abstinence and contraception”
- Statute “contains no mention of gender ideology” according to letter
- Current California curricula “out of compliance with PREP statute and HHS regulations”
- Material “must be modified” to meet federal requirements
The Biden administration approval
Previous administration had authorized contested content:
- California’s program material was approved under Biden administration
- Gradison said prior administration “erred in allowing PREP grants” for gender ideology
- Previous approval “exceeded the agency’s authority to administer the program”
- Agency authority must be “consistent with the authorizing legislation as enacted by Congress”
The compliance timeline
California given specific deadline for changes:
- State has until Aug. 19 to submit modified curricula
- Must provide modified program material to federal agency
- 60-day timeline starts from Friday letter
- Failure to comply could result in loss of federal grant funding
The review process change
Federal agency altered planned evaluation:
- Agency asked states to submit PREP material in April for “medical accuracy review”
- Concluded gender-ideology references outside scope of statute
- “Changing our planned course of action and are no longer conducting a review for medical accuracy”
- Content determined to be “outside of the subjects that are statutorily authorized”
Read more:
• California ordered to delete gender ideology from federally funded sex ed program
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