The Department of Education is cracking down on schools that fail to protect students from child predators.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a Dear Colleague letter to schools on Friday warning that too many districts have not done enough to shield students from abuse and harassment by teachers and others in positions of power.
The letter details a nationwide trend in which schools ignore credible complaints, protect staff members over children, and even move accused abusers to new jobs.
"The Department has observed a troubling and recurring pattern in schools across the Nation of credible reports of sexual abuse and harassment by adults in positions of authority going uninvestigated, institutional cultures that protect employees over students, and administrative indifference that allows predatory conduct to fester,” the letter reads.
McMahon pointed to older research showing how pervasive the problem has become. The letter referred to one study showing that nearly one in ten students in grades eight through eleven reported sexual misconduct by educators. "In any other setting where one in 10 children were subject to sexual misconduct, there would be a national outcry,” she wrote.
The secretary went on to explain that schools risk losing funding if they do not address this issue. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, schools cannot help employees with known sexual misconduct from obtaining new positions in a district.
“Sexual predators who operate within the walls of American schools depend on institutional silence and complacency,” McMahon wrote. “Such silence is not only a moral failure but also violates federal law designed to protect our most defenseless class of citizens—our children."
She concluded by declaring that the Education Department “will fully enforce federal law and employ every resource at its disposal to protect children from sexual predators” and that schools that allow misconduct “risk the termination of applicable federal assistance provided by the federal government.”
🚨REPORT🚨
— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) July 10, 2026
The Trump Administration is launching major nationwide crackdown on schools shielding sexually abusive teachers.
California could lose $50M in federal funding for failing to protect students.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon sending letters to districts today:…
Schools have long protected adult staff members accused of abusive children through a practice known as “passing the trash.” This occurs when districts allow educators to resign or relocate without informing new schools or state licensing boards of the full details of the sexual misconduct claims.
This allows these individuals to continually get hired at schools where they can continue harming children, according to ProPublica, which reported that at least 67 California teachers kept their licenses after the districts found they had sexually harassed students.
Teachers unions have added to the problem, which is about as surprising as the sunrise. They have hammered out deals requiring schools to reassign teachers to other positions instead of removing them from the classroom while their conduct is being investigated. In fact, the Los Angeles Unified School District agreed to reassign educators credibly accused of sexual relationships with students or failing to report abuse.
The U.S. Education Department is currently investigating the deal to determine whether it violates Title IX protections.
The fact that McMahon even had to send a letter like this is yet another example showing why parents should remove their children from government-run schools whenever possible. Sending one’s kids into an environment in which ten percent of children experience abuse from educators and school staff is clearly not the answer — especially when schools are actively protecting offenders.
It’s one thing if a teacher harms a child. It’s quite another for the system to protect that person and hand them more opportunities to abuse students even after being credibly accused.