The Trump administration is going after schools that shield sexually abusive teachers — and California would rather forfeit $50 million in federal funding than clean house.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon is expected to send letters Friday to school districts nationwide reminding them of their obligation under federal law to investigate sexual abuse allegations and stop the practice known as "passing the trash," where accused educators quietly transfer to other schools. The department is also opening 20 civil rights investigations into districts whose federal data suggests they failed to properly address sexual misconduct by employees, the New York Post reported.
Three California schools across two districts stand to lose nearly $50 million in Title I funding if found in violation and they refuse to comply. The department has not yet publicly identified the schools.
The stakes are not abstract. A ProPublica and KQED investigation found at least 67 California educators kept their teaching credentials even after districts determined they had sexually harassed students or committed other sexual misconduct. At least 12 of those educators remained employed in education despite the findings.
Federal officials cited specific cases. In one, a teacher was allowed to transfer to another high school after a student complained he touched her thigh, stomach, and shoulder. Female students at the new school later accused the same teacher of staring at their breasts and touching their backs and buttocks. His punishment: counseling and sexual harassment workshops. In another case, a teacher accused by multiple female students of making sexually suggestive comments and inappropriately touching them during class was substantiated by investigation — and given a slap on the wrist, told to "maintain appropriate boundaries."
That pattern — protect the employee, not the child — is not confined to K-12. Andres Manuel Aguilar, a 19-year-old Menlo College student, is now charged with two counts of sexual assault of a juvenile and one count of providing marijuana to a juvenile after allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl in his dorm room, then ordering Plan B emergency contraception via DoorDash because he was "worried about pregnancy," according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. Aguilar met the girl at a bus stop on May 4. "She told him she was 17 years old, but he knew she wasn't that old," Wagstaffe said. A preliminary hearing was continued as investigators look into a potential second victim.
McMahon's letter is expected to note a "troubling and recurring pattern" where credible reports of sexual abuse by adults in positions of authority go uninvestigated and predatory behavior goes unchecked. Earlier this week, McMahon warned Harvard administrators she was considering dropping the "hammer" on the university over diversity policies — signaling the department's appetite for confrontation with recalcitrant institutions.
The question is simple: when federal money is on the line, will California's education establishment finally choose children over its own? Or will it keep passing the trash and dare the administration to follow through?
