The Trump administration has launched a national crackdown on how school districts handle accusations of sexual misconduct by teachers, following a KQED-ProPublica investigation into California’s teacher disciplinary system.
In guidance issued last week, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon cited the news outlets’ reporting in May that California’s teacher licensing agency has not revoked the professional credentials of at least 67 educators who school districts determined had sexually harassed students or committed other types of sexual misconduct. At least 14 of those educators were rehired by other schools.
McMahon threatened to withhold federal funding from public schools that fail to protect children from teacher sexual misconduct. She called on states and school districts to scrutinize their laws and regulations to prevent educators who have engaged in sexual misconduct involving students from obtaining new positions elsewhere. Citing previous reports by the Government Accountability Office and other studies, McMahon said the Department of Education has observed a “troubling and recurring pattern” of credible reports of sexual abuse and harassment by school employees going uninvestigated.
“Unfortunately, many administrators and State educational regulators have apparently preferred to sweep these incidents under the rug and have ‘pass[ed] the trash’ to another school,” McMahon wrote in an open letter to state schools chiefs on Friday, referring to teachers who go on to work in different schools after findings of sexual misconduct.
McMahon said the Department of Education intends to increase its monitoring of school systems to ensure that they comply with federal law. The Trump administration will also examine states’ laws and regulations to determine their effectiveness in protecting students, she said.
The department is investigating 20 school districts over their data collection practices and handling of allegations of staff sexual harassment of students, McMahon announced. Two of the districts — Tulare City and Wilsona — are in central and Southern California, according to a list the department provided to KQED and ProPublica. The Tulare City superintendent has not responded to a request for comment. Wilsona Superintendent Steve Doyle said the district will cooperate fully with the federal review and “is committed to providing a safe and inclusive learning environment for every student.”
The list, which the Trump administration said was built on 2023-24 civil rights data, also includes districts in Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Connecticut, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
A spokesperson for Tony Thurmond, California state superintendent of public instruction, said he was not available to comment on the Trump administration’s letter.
California law requires public school teachers who resign or are fired for misconduct to be reported to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the state’s educator licensing agency. That agency then decides whether teachers will be disciplined further, including by losing their professional credentials.
Our look at California’s teacher disciplinary process revealed a pattern of delays and inaction, combined with a lack of transparency, that has allowed educators to continue teaching after school districts reported them to the state for sexual harassment or other sexual misconduct.
That disciplinary process, which is hidden from public view, stands out compared with how California oversees other professionals. The fact that a teacher has been disciplined is noted — along with a red flag icon next to their name — on a state website of credentialed educators, but the database does not explain why. California law prohibits the teacher licensing agency from sharing that information publicly. In contrast, the licensing bodies governing dozens of other professions in California, including doctors, nurses, police officers and lawyers, make the reasons behind disciplinary actions easily accessible on their websites. And at least 12 states, including Oregon, Washington and Florida, do the same for teachers.
California’s system also makes it difficult for school districts to learn the details of prospective employees’ disciplinary histories. Only after the state licensing agency recommends educators be disciplined can prospective employers request a summary of the case and the agency’s findings — if the request is made within five years.
California law does require teaching candidates to provide prospective employers with their complete educational job history and mandates that school districts ask previous employers whether candidates have ever been reported to the state for egregious misconduct. But no state agency is enforcing whether teachers are sharing their full employment records, whether districts are checking for previous misconduct or whether schools are providing the records.
“Prospective employers have the tools at their disposal to assess whether an individual is fit to be in the classroom,” Anita Fitzhugh, a spokesperson for the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, previously told KQED and ProPublica. “However, the Commission has no legal authority to compel employers to use these tools.”
Fitzhugh said Monday that state law prevents the agency from formally reviewing allegations of sexual misconduct that districts report to the state unless it also receives an affidavit from alleged victims. “The Commission stands ready to implement any additional public protections that the Legislature authorizes,” she said.
A new California law mandates the creation of a database by next summer that will allow employers to search the names of school support staff, such as bus drivers, custodians and teaching assistants, who are under investigation for or have substantiated complaints of egregious misconduct. But the law does not apply to public school teachers.
Some critics characterized McMahon’s latest guidance as political rhetoric and grandstanding, given the Trump administration’s gutting of the Education Department and routine dismissal of civil rights cases.
“Staff-on-student predation occurs less frequently than student-on-student harassment and assault. This letter is silent on that,” said Heidi Goldstein, a personnel commissioner of the Berkeley Unified School District and advisory board member of Stop Sexual Assault in Schools, a national nonprofit. “I look at something like this as a wedge issue you’re going to take to schools to weaken union power overall.”
In her letter, McMahon singled out teachers unions as obstructions to legislative reforms to protect children.
“This is yet another example of the Trump administration weaponizing and distorting an issue for political purposes while also systematically dismantling the very offices of the Department of Education that were established to protect the safety and civil rights of students across the nation,” said Maggie Sisco, a spokesperson for the California Teachers Association.
McMahon also noted that the Trump administration recently opened an investigation into the Los Angeles Unified School District for an agreement it made with the teachers union to reassign educators accused of sexual misconduct instead of removing them while district officials investigate. But Christy Hagen, a spokesperson for Los Angeles Unified, said “reassignment means an employee is assigned away from students and schools during an investigation.”
The district “takes all allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment with the utmost seriousness,” Hagen said, and reported allegations are reviewed promptly through a “thorough and impartial process.”
Los Angeles Unified, California’s largest school district, has yet to release public records requested by KQED reporter Holly McDede two years ago. The First Amendment Coalition, a California nonprofit that advocates for free speech and government transparency, filed a lawsuit on behalf of McDede in May. Hagen said Monday that the district “has responded to requests in accordance with the California Public Records Act.”
Steve Hilton, the Republican candidate for California governor, said if elected, he would “end the loopholes that let dangerous teachers move from one school district to another.”
“Agencies will share information, act quickly and put student safety first, not the system,” Hilton said. “If you abuse a child, your teaching career is over.”
Jonathan Underland, spokesperson for Xavier Becerra, the former U.S. health and human services secretary, former California attorney general and the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said Becerra “will make sure this state has a system that acts swiftly and keeps educators who harm students out of the classroom.”
“Protecting students from predators demands real action — but this president is demanding it from the very office he’s spent years tearing down,” Underland said. “California won’t wait on Washington.”
Mollie Simon contributed research.
