Public schools have experienced a major increase in sexual abuse over the past decade, according to a recent report by the Defense of Freedom Institute (DFI), which blames the rise on local, state, and federal officials not doing enough to hold perpetrators accountable.
In many cases, agreements between school districts and teachers unions even promote hiding records of misconduct and sexual assault, DFI says.
The DFI report (pdf), titled “Catching the Trash,” is based on federal data from 2015 to 2018 for over 97,000 schools across the United States. Researchers found a 74 percent increase in rape or attempted rape at these schools.
“This report uncovers failures at every level to protect students from sexual abuse in public K–12 schools,” said Bob Eitel, DFI president and co-founder, in a statement. “What’s most shocking is the lengths to which teacher union leaders will go to protect their members suspected of abusing students and the number of states that have ignored their ESEA ‘pass the trash’ obligations.”…