Prairie State Wire

David E. Smith, Executive Director of the Illinois Family Institute, is calling for urgent legislative action and zero-tolerance policies in public education following whistleblower allegations claiming that Community Unit School District 300 (CUSD 300) facilitates students' gender identity transitions without notifying parents. 

“When schools facilitate so-called ‘gender transitions’ in elementary-aged children without informing parents, they cross critical ethical lines,” Smith told Prairie State Wire. 

“Not only is this a violation of parental rights and a breach of trust—it also constitutes a form of psychological and, potentially, physical abuse. Young children lack the maturity to make life-altering decisions, and they are especially vulnerable to the influence of adults entrusted with their care. Parents are—and must remain—the primary guardians of their child’s well-being, especially on issues with permanent consequences. Bypassing them ignores a child’s developmental needs and undermines the family’s authority. Schools are meant to support families, not override them.” 

Smith placed blame on school leadership, teachers’ unions, and progressive lawmakers in Springfield.

“School administrators who conceal information from parents are not just overstepping—they're usurping parental rights and violating the public trust,” he said. “Public school employees have no business hiding anything from the parents or taxpayers who fund and entrust them. Such secrecy is a breach of duty—morally, ethically, and potentially legally—and should be challenged accordingly.” 

The whistleblower’s claims center on three elementary students who were reportedly permitted by CUSD 300 staff to socially transition by changing names, pronouns and gender presentation without informing parents.

CUSD 300 Superintendent Dr. Martina Smith and the district's school members have not responded to multiple requests for comment, and the district has issued no public statement addressing the accusations.

“Any school employee who hides the truth from parents is betraying the very people they serve,” Smith said. 

Backing the whistleblower’s claims is Laurie Parman, a 26-year veteran of CUSD 300 and now a political candidate running for House District 66. 

Parman described a pre-Covid staff training where teachers were allegedly instructed on how to obscure students’ involvement in LGBTQ clubs. 

“If a parent called and asked, ‘Where was my student after school on Tuesday?’ and the student was at the LGBTQ club, you were told to say, ‘They were at the Swans Club. It’s a writing club.’ They even said, ‘Because we do writing in there.’ That was the exact wording,” Parman said. Parman said the message to staff left her deeply unsettled. 

“The purpose of this lesson that we got on lying to parents—it was supposed to be about mental health,”  Parman said. 

Smith said it is wrong for taxpayer funded schools to engage in such deception. 

“Teachers’ unions are pushing godless, radical ideologies onto young, impressionable students—often promoting humanistic values that directly conflict with those of parents,” Smith said. “Their ‘we know better than you’ attitude is unacceptable. These are public servants, hired by taxpayers to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic—not to indoctrinate. The abysmal proficiency rates in our government schools expose their upside-down priorities. It’s time for parents and taxpayers to push back—and many already are.” 

According to Defending Education, CUSD 300 uses a Student Gender Support Plan that explicitly allows students to determine how much of their gender identity is shared and with whom. 

The plan includes a section that asks whether guardians are aware and supportive of the student’s gender status and outlines steps if they are not. Staff are directed to use students’ preferred names and pronouns and to allow access to facilities and activities based on gender identity, even if parents are not informed.

Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison warned that the practice is now widespread in Illinois schools. 

“Multiple districts, including Chicago Public Schools and suburban systems, have quietly adopted ‘gender support plans’ that explicitly state parents may not be informed if a student socially transitions at school,” Morrison told South Cook News. “This is not isolated, it’s part of a larger ideological agenda.” 

Smith urged lawmakers to intervene and reassert parental authority. 

“Policymakers and school boards must adopt zero-tolerance legislation to stop the spread of radical, anti-parent ideologies in our public schools and to discipline anyone who would subvert parental rights,” he said. “When teachers’ unions and administrators push agendas that defy parental authority, conceal critical information, and neglect core academics, they not only betray the public trust—they endanger the moral and intellectual development of our children.” 

Smith also highlighted concerns about academic performance as evidence of misplaced priorities within the school system.

“With proficiency rates in reading, writing, and math at appallingly low levels, it’s clear that priorities have shifted in the wrong direction,” he said. “Zero-tolerance policies would send a clear message: public education exists to serve students and families—not to indoctrinate or deceive them.” 

He criticized progressive legislation as fueling the current situation. 

“Ironically, it's largely due to policies enacted by so-called ‘progressives’ in the Illinois General Assembly that these politically driven agendas are being pushed in our schools,” Smith said. “At the same time, social media has amplified the problem. Across the nation, children—many with unfiltered access to platforms like TikTok and Instagram—are being told they can change their gender at will. But science and biology say otherwise.”

Smith said in many cases gender dysphoria in children is the result of peer pressure and online influence.

“What’s often dismissed as 'affirmation' is, in many cases, confusion fueled by a cultural trend,” he said. “With proper guidance and support, most of these children grow out of their gender dysphoria and go on to become healthy, well-adjusted adults. Lawmakers must recognize the harm being done and take steps to protect children from ideology disguised as education.” 

He stressed that schools must never override the family unit on such critical issues. 

“Parents are the primary authority in their children’s lives—not the state, not the school, and not activist educators,” Smith said. “When school personnel deliberately withhold information, override parental input, or push values that contradict the family’s beliefs, they cross a line that no public servant should ever cross.” 

Smith called for compassion toward children dealing with gender confusion, but warned against institutional overreach. 

“Children experiencing gender dysphoria need compassionate help—good counsel from loving parents, trusted clergy, and qualified mental health professionals,” he said. “Above all, they need the care and support of a healthy family to guide them through confusing and often deceptive thoughts and emotions. Government school officials have no right to intervene unless invited; their role should be to support parents, never to undermine or withhold information from them. Using hormone blockers or performing surgeries on children is not a solution—it’s a serious form of abuse.” 

He said affirming family rights must take precedence over bureaucratic policies. 

“Student privacy is a subset of family privacy—not a separate or competing category,” Smith said. “The two are indivisibly linked and must be respected as such.” 

Smith encouraged policymakers and the public to listen to those who have experienced the consequences of early gender transition. 

“Please talk to some de-transitioners who know the harms firsthand,” he said. “Many of them are speaking out publicly. For example: Camille Kiefel and Maia Poet. Author & Counselor Pamela Garfield-Jaeger is also a great resource.”