Given the roughly 50 million students in U.S. K-12 schools each year, the number of students who have been victims of sexual misconduct by school employees is probably in the millions each decade, according to multiple studies.
In Washington, the arrest of a male high school teacher on charges of sexual misconduct with a minor represented a repeat nightmare for a school district that previously had a psychologist convicted on the same charges.
The problem is not confined to public schools, although the public school student population dwarfs that of private and parochial schools.
While Superintendent of Public Education in Oklahoma from 2011-2015, Janet Barresi said, state groups lobbying on behalf of school administrators and board members were much more vociferous opponents than teachers unions of laws that would force schools to disclose information about prior allegations and cases involving school employees.
In 2007, the Associated Press declared that "Sexual misconduct plagues U.S. schools," after its investigation "Found more than 2,500 cases over five years in which educators were punished for actions from bizarre to sadistic." In December 2023, Business Insider looked at the issue and concluded "Shoddy investigations, quiet resignations, and a culture of secrecy have protected predators, not students."
Last year, the Defense of Freedom Institute released a report titled "Catching the trash" that concluded sexual misconduct by school employees has raged in the school system for decades.
"Various actors - school and district personnel, teacher unions, and the federal department charged with enforcing laws against sexual assault in public schools - bear responsibility for a systemic failure in preventing, and responding to, sexual assaults in public schools," the report said.
No comments:
Post a Comment