U.S. Department of Education Opens Investigations Into Three California Districts Over Wheel of Privilege Survey
The U.S. Department of Education announced on October 26, 2026, that its Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) opened investigations into three California school districts: 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, and the investigations will determine whether they violated the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), the federal parental rights law enforced by SPPO.
According to public reporting cited by the Department, the districts require students to participate in Wheel of Power/Privilege and/or Mapping My Identities activities as part of mandated Ethnic Studies curricula. The questionnaires require students to identify personal information such as their sexual orientations, gender identities, mental and physical health conditions, family economic status and race, and 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 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 Frank Miller, Director of the Student Privacy Policy Office. 'Students should not be pressured into identifying intimate details about themselves and their families without parental awareness and consent.' The Department said PPRA requires schools to notify parents and obtain written parental consent before administering a survey, analysis or evaluation that would reveal protected information, and to make all curriculum available for review to parents upon request. Violations of PPRA can lead to enforcement actions and potential loss of federal funding. The Department pointed to SPPO guidance letters issued in March 2025 and August 2026, and to an October 5, 2026 joint letter from the Education and Justice Departments to all state Attorneys General.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 加利福尼亚州一所学校的学生（资料图）。美国联邦紧急事务管理局 Adam Dubrowa 摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Students at a school in California (file photo). Photo by Adam Dubrowa, FEMA, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
