Across the nation, parents are increasingly asserting their right to have control over their children’s education, driven by concerns over what they see as inappropriate or overly mature content in classrooms. From heated school board meetings to social media campaigns, families are demanding transparency and the ability to opt out of lessons or activities that conflict with their values.
Issues like gender identity, s*xuality, and personal behavior are at the forefront of these debates, with parents arguing they should have the final say on when and how their children engage with such topics. This battle between parental authority and school policies has taken center stage in Burlington, Massachusetts, where a federal investigation is now underway.
DoE Targets Massachusetts School District For Allegedly Forcing Inappropriate Survey on Students
The U.S. Department of Education has launched a probe into Burlington Public Schools (BPS) following allegations that students were required to complete a s*xually explicit survey, even after their parents opted them out. The department’s Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) announced on Monday that it is investigating whether BPS violated the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), a federal law granting parents the right to exclude their children from surveys or questionnaires involving sensitive personal information.
The controversy revolves around the 2025 “Youth Risk Behavior Survey,” given to students at Marshall Simonds Middle School and Burlington High School in March. A complaint filed by the Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center, representing several parents, claims the 45-minute survey asked intrusive questions about students’ gender identity, s*xual experiences, and personal habits.
Specific questions included: “Which of the following terms best describes your current gender identity?” and “What s*x were you assigned at birth, on your original birth certificate?” The survey also delved into topics like s*xual abuse, alcohol consumption, and smoking habits.
Before presenting these questions, the survey offered explanations of key terms. It stated: “Gender identity is how you see yourself. You can see yourself as male, female, a mix, or both, or neither. It can be the same or different from the s*x you were assigned at birth,” and went on to define terms like “cisgender,” “transgender,” “nonbinary,” and “genderqu**r.”
According to a letter sent to BPS in April by the Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center, the district failed to honor parental opt-out requests. The letter alleges that students were told the survey was mandatory unless their names appeared on an opt-out list, but “many students who had, in fact, been opted out were not on the opt-out list.” In one reported case, a student who objected, stating she had been opted out and did not want to participate, was still compelled by a teacher to take the survey because her name was missing from the list.
The letter also claims that “this is not the first time that Burlington Public Schools have violated the rights of parents and students.” It points to prior incidents where the district allegedly forced diversity, equity, inclusion, and LGBTQ+ content on students. The letter argues that the survey incident reflects a deeper cultural issue within BPS, one that dismisses parental rights and exposes students to controversial ideologies.
“While this most recent survey incident may have been a genuine accident, it was no accident that it happened in Burlington. Rather, it was the predictable result of an educational culture at BPS that does not take parental rights seriously and does not see a problem with foisting radical ideologies upon minor students. Changes must be made,” the letter states.
Parents voiced their outrage through communications with school administrators and public comments at an April 1st School Committee meeting. Despite promises from BPS that such incidents would not happen again, the Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center contends that the district has taken no concrete steps to prevent future violations.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon issued a strong statement, reaffirming the department’s commitment to parental rights. “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. She pledged a thorough investigation to uphold federal protections.
This investigation comes at a time when parents nationwide are pushing back against what they perceive as overreach by schools. The outcome of the Burlington case could ripple across the country, influencing how districts handle sensitive surveys and respect parental choices.
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