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Katy Payne she/her
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Today, the U.S. Department of Education issued a news release stating that the agency was requesting information from Washington and California regarding "transgender policies." Below is State Superintendent Chris Reykdal’s statement.
OLYMPIA—July 30, 2026—Washington state law provides parents and guardians with access to their child's records in school, and our state civil rights laws are fully in compliance with federal law. Period.
For the last 15 months, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has requested—and my office has provided—tens of thousands of documents as part of ED's "investigation" into Washington's civil rights laws. While my office has provided every single record that ED has requested, we have not heard anything substantive from their office in months about the status of their efforts.
To the surprise of no one, the Trump White House is playing the worst kind of politics by threatening to withhold federal funds from states that don't comply with their political ideology.
In a press release today, ED stated that they are "demanding" information from Washington and California regarding state policies that govern schools' disclosure of student records to parents and families. Today's demands are based on an expectation that we will change our state’s student protection policies to align with a case out of California that is still being litigated. As we have done throughout this process, we will supply ED with all the information they are demanding, consistent with state and federal laws.
Let me be clear: Washington state law ensures that, when parents and families request information about their child from their child's school, the school provides that information consistent with state and federal laws.
Further, Washington state law has robust protections against discrimination for public school students, which has included discrimination based on gender identity for two decades. These protections fit within the scope of what is allowed by federal law and recent court rulings on these issues.
While the Trump Administration continues their lengthy fishing expedition on the taxpayer's dime, my office will continue to uphold and enforce our state and federal laws.
Today’s media stunt by the now dismantled U.S. Department of Education is yet another reminder that they only exist at this point to pump out political and ideological propaganda. From over here in the functioning Washington, might we suggest they demand charges against any number of persons identified in the Epstein files or those who allegedly committed abuses of the “ring boys” at the World Wrestling Entertainment company?
If the U.S. Department of Education is looking for something to do, pushing the White House to bring justice to victims of sexual abuse and assault remains an important endeavor.