The phrase refers to the practice of teachers and other staffers who are credibly accused of sexually abusing students and then allowed to quietly resign or move onto another school system. In making the announcement, the department cited 蜜桃影视鈥檚 recent 鈥楧ecades of Harm鈥� investigation, which delved into allegations of child sex abuse in New York schools spanning nearly 70 years.

鈥淎ccording to reporting, nearly two thousand complaints filed under the state鈥檚 Child Victims Act accuse a school, educator, or staff member of sexual abuse,鈥� the Office for Civil Rights鈥� . 鈥淲hat is most chilling is that instead of protecting the students to ensure these incidents would never happen again, the schools allegedly allowed the accused to evade punishment and resign.鈥�

New York state鈥檚 2019 Child Victims Act  allowed adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse to bring a complaint against their alleged abusers and the institutions that protected them. 蜜桃影视 spent more than two years combing through cases filed in all 62 New York counties to identify at least 1,973 complaints that name a school. That means that more than 18% of all the New York state cases 鈥� or nearly 1 in 5 鈥� attest that a child was sexually abused, assaulted or raped by an adult who had access to them through their school. 

蜜桃影视鈥檚 reporting uncovered cases where school leaders had reportedly been told of previous or ongoing abuse and turned a blind eye, allowing it to continue unchecked; others where the accused abusers evaded punishment or accountability, some for decades, and many where alleged serial abusers moved from school to school. The investigation encompassed public, private, residential and religious schools.

Calling sexual misconduct in schools “insidious,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said, 鈥淧arents and families should be able to send their kids to school without fear that they will be targeted by school staff.鈥�

The Office for Civil Rights said it was focusing its investigations on the New York City Department of Education, Jefferson County Public Schools in Colorado, where several school employees have been recently convicted of sexually abusing students; and districts in California, Georgia, North Carolina, Missouri, Texas and Virginia.

In calling out New York City, the department cited instances where the DOE 鈥渁llegedly let educators named in complaints remain in their job, even after a settlement.鈥� This was an apparent reference to investigative reporting by the news organization . The outlet reported that New York City had paid out over $160 million to settle more than 150 Child Victims Act cases as of October 2024, and that educators named in some of the school-based cases were still employed and teaching even as those settlements were made. 

In July, what it called 鈥渁 national K-12 initiative to crack down on sexual predators in schools,鈥� citing instances where schools failed to investigate credible reports of abuse or allowed accused perpetrators to change roles or transfer schools. The initiative came after the administration had gutted the Office for Civil Rights and dismissed 90% of the complaints it received, including those alleging sexual assault, according to ,

At the same time, the department alleging antisemitism, reverse discrimination against white students or those probing the legality of policies that protect LGBTQ students. In late September, the Trump administration officially threw out a Biden-era Title IX rule, which extended protections against sexual harassment and assault to LGBTQ students.