There is something almost breathtaking about the fact that this even has to be said out loud.

Not activist teachers.

Not the state of California.

Yet here we are in 2026, with the United States Supreme Court having to step in and remind a massive public-school system that the people who actually raise children are still supposed to be involved in their lives.

In a divided ruling this week, the Court sided with a group of parents challenging California policies that allowed schools to conceal a child’s gender identity decisions from their own families. The justices reinstated a lower-court order that prevents schools from misleading parents and requires them to respect parental instructions regarding how their children are addressed at school.

Think about that sentence for a moment.

The highest court in the land had to tell a state government that schools cannot deceive parents about their own children.

This case arose after California adopted policies encouraging or allowing educators to hide a student’s “gender transition” at school from their parents. The 2024 California SAFETY Act even barred schools from requiring teachers to inform parents if their child adopted a different gender identity at school.

In plain English, that meant a child could be living one identity at school and another at home — and the adults entrusted with their education were expected to help keep the secret.

That’s not education.

That’s state-sponsored deception.

Parents across the state challenged the policy, arguing that the government had no right to insert itself between families and their children, particularly when........

© Townhall