Dept of Education Probes Public School Sex Survey

The Department of Education has put the Burlington, Massachusetts, public school district on notice that it is reviewing the district's actions of forcing students to take a sex and risk behavior study despite parental decisions to opt their kids out of participation.

The DOE posted that some parents denied the district permission to include their children in the survey, which included the sensitive topics of sexual behavior and gender. But those parental wishes were ignored by the district, and their children were still forced to complete the survey.

The survey was shared by the DOE. It involved extremely personal questions about sexual activities with graphic descriptions, including forced sexual activities. A question regarding gender included the statement: "Your sexual orientation is not the same as your gender identity."

The Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center amplified the objections of the parents in a communication to the district in April. The center wrote, "This egregious violation of parental and student rights transgressed federal law."

The center demanded that the district take appropriate action against the educators who forced student participation, even ignoring complaints from students on the spot that they were not allowed by their parents to be involved.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon wrote in a release about the case, "Parents must be the primary decision-makers in their children's education. The allegations that Burlington violated parents' rights by administering a survey against parents' wishes — and particularly one that is graphic, and downright inappropriate in nature — is unconscionable."

McMahon said the department would "resolutely defend parents' rights." She did not specify what potential enforcement actions the district might have to contend with. But the center reminded the district in its communication that the federal government would be within its powers under the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment to withhold federal education funding due to the violation.