McMahon: Education Department ‘cracking down’ on teachers harassing students

When Education Secretary Linda McMahon declares the Department of Education is "cracking down" on teacher misconduct, she's touching one of the rare issues where bipartisan concern actually exists. Parents across the political spectrum want to know that the adults in charge of their children's classrooms are held accountable when they abuse that trust. The practice of "passing the trash" — quietly moving an accused teacher to another school without proper documentation — is a genuine problem that has allowed predators to continue teaching in multiple districts. However, the constitutional and practical realities here are worth examining. Education policy in America has historically been a state and local matter, with the federal Department of Education playing a largely financial and civil-rights enforcement role. When McMahon says the department is "cracking down," one has to ask: through what mechanism? Title IX enforcement gives the department some leverage over districts receiving federal funds, but personnel decisions about individual teachers are typically governed by state licensing boards, union contracts, and local school boards. There's also the due process question — accused teachers deserve fair hearings, and a federal push for aggressive action could create pressure to discipline educators before allegations are properly investigated. The deeper issue is that this problem has persisted for decades because of institutional incentives. School districts often prefer quiet resignations over public firings because they avoid lawsuits, bad publicity, and the administrative burden of documentation. McMahon's comments put a spotlight on that failure, which is genuinely valuable. But whether the federal government is the right vehicle to fix it — and whether "cracking down" rhetoric translates into actual policy changes that survive legal challenges — remains to be seen. Both the urgency of protecting students and the importance of fair process deserve serious consideration in whatever comes next.