Education Secretary Linda McMahon said Sunday that her department is “cracking down” on K-12 teachers sexually harassing students. During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” McMahon criticized the practice of a school district reassigning a teacher accused of sexually harassing a student to another school.
Decades ago, that was a practice in New York. Hopefully, they haven’t gone back to it, but some districts across the country outside of California probably regressed.
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.
They have not revoked the credentials of 67 teachers in California alone who sexually harassed students or committed other types of sexual misconduct. At least 14 of those 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.
🚨 NOW: Trump Education Sec. Linda McMahon just dropped this shocking line on CNN, California teachers who m*lest kids ARE BEING PROTECTED
“This stat will probably blow your mind. 1 in 10 children, before they finish high school, will be s*xually molested in school!”
“We are… pic.twitter.com/mcm2ROGQW9
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 23, 2026