U.S. Department of Education Opens Three Investigations into California Districts for Coercing Students to Answer 'Wheel of Privilege” Survey

Today, the U.S. Department of Education's (ED) Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) opened investigations into three California school districts for allegedly violating federal parental rights laws. North Monterey County Unified School District, Palo Alto Unified School District, and San Francisco Unified School District (the Districts) reportedly require students to reveal intimate details about themselves and their families without parental consent or knowledge. The investigations will determine whether the Districts violated the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), which requires schools to notify parents and obtain their written consent before surveying students on topics that would reveal protected information.

According to public reporting, the Districts require students to participate in "Wheel of Power/Privilege" and/or "Mapping My Identities" activities as part of mandated "Ethnic Studies" curricula. These invasive questionnaires require students to identify personal information such as their sexual orientations, gender identities, mental and physical health conditions, family economic status, race, and more. Students are then asked to determine their "privilege status" based on the information they provide. Parents also allege that the Districts were not responsive to requests to review the Ethnic studies curriculum or that they only allowed parents to review parts of it.

"Schools in California seem to be collecting a myriad of protected and private information on students without involving parents, raising serious concerns that they deliberately keep parents in the dark about the most sensitive information pertaining to their children," said Director of the Student Privacy Policy Office Frank Miller. "Students should not be pressured into identifying intimate details about themselves and their families without parental awareness and consent. Education leaders in California must stop undermining parental rights and we will work with these Districts to bring them into full compliance with federal laws."

PPRA requires that schools make all curriculum available for review to parents upon request. The federal statute also requires the school and/or district to notify parents and obtain written parental consent before administering a survey, analysis, or evaluation that would reveal protected information regarding the student and their family.

Background

PPRA is a federal law enforced by SPPO that provides parents with certain rights concerning surveys, analyses, evaluations, and certain physical examinations or screenings involving their children. PPRA also provides parents with rights to inspect certain instructional materials used as part of their child's educational curriculum.

These statutory obligations were emphasized and clarified in the SPPO's recent Dear Colleague Letters issued in March 2025 and August 2026.

On October 5, 2026, ED and the U.S. Department of Justice issued letters to all state Attorneys General pointing them to SPPO's recent guidance and expressing concerns about their school districts' lack of compliance with these federal laws regarding mental health screenings conducted in schools. This letter reiterated that parents should be included in their children's education, not treated like "domestic terrorists" as they were by the Biden Administration.

Violations of PPRA can lead to enforcement actions and potential loss of federal funding.