Manchin, Toomey Urge Department of Education to Protect Students from Educator Sexual Misconduct

Charleston, WV – U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) urged U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to provide answers regarding states’ failure to institute polices that protect students from educators who engage in sexual misconduct. For years, academic institutions across the country have allowed teachers with a history of abusing students to transfer schools without facing any consequences. When an educator is not disciplined for the sexual assault or abuse of a student, the educator is able to seek other educational jobs and continue the cycle of abuse at other schools. While most educators will never face these issues, allowing the continuation of this practice impacts the reputation of all educators.

  

“As you know, Section 8546 – a provision we both authored – was enacted on December 10, 2015…yet, seven years after its enactment, the patchwork of state laws identified in the Report show that many states have failed to sufficiently prohibit the practices,” the Senators said in part. “In the first six months of 2022 alone, preliminary searches of news sources illustrate at least 181 K-12 educators and administrators were arrested for child sex crimes, including sexual assault of students and possessing child pornography.”

 

Senators Manchin and Toomey previously introduced legislation to amend Section 8546 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). This legislation was later incorporated into the Every Student Succeeds (ESSA) Act and requires all states receiving certain federal funding from the Department of Education to enact policies, laws, or regulations to explicitly prohibit the practice of allowing teachers with a history of abusing students to transfer schools without facing any consequences. Despite this statutory requirement, three-quarters of all states have not yet enacted legislation while continuing to receive federal funding. In February, Senators Manchin and Toomey first requested answers from the Department of Education regarding states’ failure to institute these polices. In early June, after several delays, the Department released a report on the matter.

 

“According to the findings in the Report, all 50 states and the District of Columbia require employers to complete criminal background checks on prospective school employees as part of the hiring process,” the Senators continued. “However, the Report also revealed that, at minimum, 32 states do not have policies in place to meet the baseline requirements of Section 8546…These findings show that the Department has significant work to do to ensure that states are aware federal funding they receive is at risk if they do not comply with the law.”