“While nearly all educators act with extraordinary care and professionalism, many state-level policies and practices can and must be strengthened to ensure greater protections for our young people,” Deputy Assistant Secretary Ruth Ryder said in a statement. “Gaps in many of these policies and variability in policies between states remain significant challenges.”
The Education Department has been under increasing pressure to release the report, which was started during the Trump administration, by congressional lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who see this as a growing problem.
There is no national database for this type of incident. According to estimates by some advocacy groups, 95% of educator sexual misconduct cases are handled internally and not reported to law enforcement or reported by the media. A recent analysis of all local new stories by Fox News found that at least 135 teachers and teachers’ aides have been arrested on child sex-related crimes in 41 states between Jan. 1 and May 13.