Education Secretary Linda McMahon said Sunday that her department is intensifying its enforcement against K-12 teachers who sexually harass students, vowing to use federal funding as leverage to force schools to take tougher action.
In an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," McMahon criticized the practice of school districts quietly transferring accused teachers to other schools without any record of the allegations. "And it's not part of their record or anything, so we have really been cracking down on that as well," she told host Dana Bash.
McMahon cited departmental research indicating that one in ten children will experience sexual molestation before graduating high school. The comments come amid a broader federal push to address what she described as an "epidemic" of sexual abuse in American schools.
The department's actions follow a joint investigation by ProPublica and KQED in May, which found that California had failed to revoke the teaching licenses of 67 educators who had been determined by school districts to have sexually harassed students or engaged in other sexual misconduct between 2019 and 2025. At least 14 of those teachers were subsequently hired by other schools, with at least 12 still working in education as of May.
In response, the Education Department launched an investigation into the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and a nationwide crackdown on teacher misconduct. The LAUSD probe focuses on an alleged agreement with the United Teachers of Los Angeles union that allows teachers credibly accused of sexual or romantic relationships with students, child pornography creation, or failure to report suspected child abuse to be reassigned rather than terminated.
In a July letter to educational institutions, McMahon made clear that the department can revoke federal funding from schools that violate federal sexual misconduct laws. "Make no mistake, the Department will fully enforce federal law and employ every resource at its disposal to protect children from sexual predators," she wrote. "Those schools that allow sexual misconduct to occur risk the termination of applicable federal assistance provided by the federal government."
The secretary added, "This epidemic of nationwide sexual abuse in our schools must end."
The department's aggressive stance is part of a wider trend in the Trump administration of using federal funding to enforce policy priorities, including recent actions on immigration and higher education. The move also aligns with the administration's broader efforts to reshape the federal education landscape, as seen in the expanded visa crackdown and other enforcement initiatives.
Critics, however, question whether the department's approach will hold up legally and whether it adequately addresses the root causes of teacher misconduct. The investigation into LAUSD is ongoing, and the department has not yet announced any specific funding cuts.
