HHS gives California deadline to overhaul federally-funded sex ed program
The Trump administration has issued a directive to California’s federally funded sex education program, giving them 60 days to remove all references to gender identity or risk losing their funding. The California Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) grant has been under scrutiny since March, when the HHS’s Administration for Children and Families (ACF) requested the program to submit its curriculum for review.
According to ACF, the review was initiated to ensure that the state’s sexual education program is medically accurate and age-appropriate. After examining the curriculum, ACF found that it contained subjects and language related to “gender ideology” that were deemed to be outside the program’s authorized scope. As a result, ACF halted the review for medical accuracy, as the content found was not allowed under the program’s authorizing statute.
Acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison stated, “The Trump administration will not tolerate the use of federal funds for programs that indoctrinate our children. The disturbing gender ideology content in California’s PREP materials is both unacceptable and well outside the program’s core purpose.”
One of the materials flagged by ACF was a lesson for middle school students introducing the concepts of transgenderism. The curriculum for high school students included topics like “social transitioning” and “medical transitioning,” as well as discussions on being “non-binary” and the idea that gender identity is a social status.
The teacher training materials also came under scrutiny for instructing educators to refer to individuals based on their assigned biological markers at birth and introducing terms like “cisgender” and “non-binary.”
Under the authorizing statute, California’s PREP program is designed to educate young people on abstinence, contraception, and sexually transmitted infections like HIV/AIDS. ACF pointed out that teaching gender ideology is not consistent with the program’s purpose as defined by Congress.
California has been given 60 days to remove all gender ideology references from its curriculum and program materials. Failure to comply could result in the withholding, suspension, or termination of federal funding for the PREP program. Parents and educators in California will need to make adjustments to ensure compliance with the Trump administration’s directive.
