Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced on Sunday that the Department of Education is initiating a national effort to address sexual harassment of K-12 students by teachers. During an interview on CNN’s "State of the Union," McMahon stated the department will focus on ending the practice of reassigning accused teachers to different schools without documenting the allegations in their professional records.
The announcement follows a joint report by ProPublica and KQED in May, which found that California did not revoke the professional licenses of 67 teachers determined by school districts to have committed sexual misconduct between 2019 and 2025. The reporting indicated that at least 14 of those individuals were hired by other schools, and 12 remained employed in education as of May.
In July, McMahon sent a letter to educational institutions detailing an investigation into the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The probe involves an alleged agreement between the district and the United Teachers of Los Angeles union to reassign rather than terminate teachers credibly accused of misconduct, including romantic relationships with students, possession of child pornography, or failing to report child abuse.
For students and parents, the policy could result in changes to how sexual misconduct allegations are reported and tracked within school systems. For school districts and unions, the primary change is the potential loss of federal funding for non-compliance with federal sexual misconduct laws. McMahon stated that the department would utilize "every resource at its disposal," including the termination of federal assistance, for schools that allow sexual misconduct to occur.
The knock-on effects include a potential shift in collective bargaining agreements, such as the one under investigation at LAUSD, which currently permits reassignment in cases of credible accusations. The federal investigation into LAUSD serves as a test case for how the Department of Education will handle district-level personnel policies moving forward. While a specific deadline for the LAUSD probe was not reported, the department's national initiative is currently active as of August 2026.