Union-Controlled Lawmakers Lie to Parents, Break Own Laws, Hurt Special Needs Kids

The law draws a distinction between children with special needs and those who are not special needs. So, when union leaders and the politicians they employ target children with propaganda about unlimited numbers of genders, and the kids fall prey to this agenda, special-needs students, along with their parents, qualify for different and greater levels of protections than do other students.

But union-controlled legislators show little awareness of the distinction. Their incompetence amounts to institutional mistreatment of special-needs children. Their neglect could end up being costly for taxpayers and hundreds of thousands of children.

For example, California Assembly Bills 1266 (which took effect in 2014) and 665 (which took effect in 2023) clash with a federal law called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This federal law details multiple protections and rights for students deemed eligible for special education services. More than 800,000 children in California are eligible for “special education and/or related services” under IDEA.

California’s AB 1266 is the “kid decides on gender” law. As a Legal Alert explains, there is no “threshold step for social transition,” and counseling can be provided to any child experiencing “gender dysphoria.” Therefore, a 6-year-old girl with an intellectual disability like Down Syndrome could change her name, gender and pronouns, and insist on using the boys’ bathroom, since California lawmakers empower her to do so via AB 1266 – all without parental knowledge or consent!

This is in direct conflict with IDEA, which specifies that “related services” like counseling can only be provided to children with disabilities with express written permission by parents.

In addition, California’s AB 665 says the state will provide mental health care for kids 12 and older who suffer from “gender dysphoria,” which conflicts with AB 1266’s “no threshold” policy and also conflicts with IDEA, which mandates parental consent for counseling services.

This may put teachers and administrators in the crosshairs of special education lawsuits if they allow children with disabilities to have counseling behind the backs of their parents.

That’s not going to sit well with federal law, putting $1.2 billion in federal education funding at risk.

Now the union super majority at the California legislature has rammed through AB 1955. This new law prohibits anyone involved with public schools from giving any truthful information to parents asking about a child’s transgender status. And a recent Legal Alert sent by California Attorney General Rob Bonta threatens reprisals against anyone who notifies parents about a child’s gender or name change.

But IDEA details specific rights of parents to request assessments, review records, and be a member of the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team to determine the appropriate services and placement for their child. School districts can only implement each component of the IEP for which parents’ consent, and that includes counseling.

The California Department of Education enumerates these Procedural Safeguards under IDEA for parents on its website. In addition, a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision confirmed that parents have independent, enforceable rights under IDEA to direct their child’s education.

But state lawmakers, in their zeal to prevent parents from knowing about the politicized and sexualized curricula that is now prevalent in government schools, are going out of their way to prohibit parental notification. These (and other) state laws and guidance that exclude parents from the decision-making process are not only a disturbing subversion of parental authority, but they clearly conflict with federal rights under IDEA.

None of these California laws or guidance even mention the federal protections of disabled students – or their parents – under IDEA, so some parents are lawyering up.

Lawsuits can be costly. Irvine Unified School District taxpayers recently ponied up millions in a special education case and a sexual abuse settlement. Yet the IUSD administration is risking further litigation by not tracking if students who have requested to change their name or gender also have disabilities. Since special needs students are often targeted by school activists pushing a sexual agenda onto kids, the district presumably has numerous such cases. IUSD has dug its proverbial heels into the ground so deeply that it’s stated it will no longer disclose the number of students under gender support plans to the public.

Union-controlled legislators shouldn’t break federal laws or harm disabled children (or any children) in their quest to push their political and social agendas. Their reckless behavior has made taxpayer funded schools vulnerable to litigation, and their assaults on parental rights and vulnerable children are dangerous and flatly un-American. They should be ashamed of themselves.

This article originally published in the Orange County Register and is republished with permission. 

Roger Ruvolo is a longtime newspaper editor and a contributor to For Kids & Country.