The U.S. Department of Education is investigating 20 school districts over their handling of staff-on-student sexual misconduct. Here is what parents should know about the investigations, student safety, transparency and their right to ask questions.

When the U.S. Department of Education issued a new Dear Colleague letter on July 10, 2026, much of the attention centered on Title IX. But another federal law may prove just as important in the effort to protect students from educator sexual misconduct. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act—better known as ESEA—contains a provision specifically intended to stop schools from helping employees accused of sexual misconduct move quietly into new education jobs. The provision

The Department of Education has warned schools that they must properly investigate sexual misconduct, report incidents accurately and stop accused employees from quietly moving to other schools. Here are five things every parent should know.

First published in 2005, Terri Miller’s article exposed educator sexual misconduct as a serious and often overlooked form of child sexual abuse. Her call for stronger prevention, informed communities, institutional accountability and coordinated action remains urgently relevant today.

A South Carolina school abuse scandal demonstrates why mandatory reporting, transparency, and institutional accountability are essential to protecting children and preventing educator sexual abuse.

The resignation of LAUSD's superintendent is a reminder that protecting students begins with leadership. Student safety is shaped by school culture, accountability, and systems—not just policies on paper.

Nebraska has adopted key SESAME Act protections through LB 937, strengthening school hiring practices, prohibiting secrecy agreements, and helping prevent educator sexual misconduct and "passing the trash."

Most child sexual abuse does not begin with abuse. It begins with grooming. Predators rarely start with overt sexual conduct. Instead, they test boundaries. They build trust. They create secrecy.

LAUSD has paid over $200M in abuse settlements. This post examines why prevention education and proper reporting cost far less than silence.

When the abuse involves a school employee, survivors are not limited to one pathway. There are three overlapping systems of accountability: 1. Title IX (School-Based Rights) 2. Criminal Law (Prosecution) 3. Civil Law (Lawsuits and Damages)

A Minnesota bill would make predatory grooming a felony, defining it not as a single moment, but as a pattern of behavior.

When a child is harmed by an educator, the questions come fast — and the answers are almost impossible to find. What are my rights? Does the school have to investigate? Can they make me sign an NDA? Why is this teacher still in a classroom? Most families are left to navigate a broken, inconsistent system entirely alone. The silence that has protected institutions for decades doesn't end when abuse is discovered. In many ways, it gets louder. That's exactly why the NCSESAME FA

Child sexual abuse prevention laws can reduce harm—but only when they require comprehensive training, strong hiring and screening practices, clear reporting systems, and consistent enforcement. Research shows that inconsistent school safety policies across states leave critical gaps, allowing abuse to continue. Effective prevention depends on evidence-based laws that are implemented at every level of the education system, not just adopted on paper.

Federal agencies do not systematically collect detailed data on sexual misconduct by school employees. As a result, policymakers, journalists, and communities often struggle to understand the scope of the problem—especially at the state and local level.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month—a time not just to raise awareness, but to confront the scale of a crisis that remains largely hidden in plain sight. The data is clear: sexual violence is not rare, and it is not random. According to RAINN , hundreds of thousands of people experience sexual violence each year in the United States, with children among the most vulnerable. But when we look specifically at schools—where children are legally required to be—the numbers beco

NCSESAME to host special pre-release screening fundraiser There is a phrase often used in education— in loco parentis .“In the place of a parent.” It reflects a promise: that when families entrust their children to a school, that institution will protect them. But what happens when that promise is broken? The documentary In Loco Parentis confronts that question head-on—exposing not only abuse at two elite boarding schools, but the systems that allowed it to remain hidden fo

Trey Carlock: The inspiration behind Trey's Law For decades, survivors of child sexual abuse have faced a painful dilemma: seek justice through civil settlements but agree to remain silent about what happened. In many cases, nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) were used to conceal abuse and protect institutions from public scrutiny rather than protect survivors. Trey’s Law aims to change that. Trey’s Law is a growing legislative movement that prohibits the use of nondisclosure

The NCSESAME community recently joined a powerful conversation on the survivor-led podca st Blooming After Grooming , hosted by Diana and Sarah—two extraordinary advocates who have become close friends an d supporters of our work. Diana and Sarah created Blooming After Grooming after discovering they were both abused by the same high school teacher. Their podcast explores healing, resilience, and the work required to expose grooming and protect future students. The show has

NCSESAME strongly applauds the introduction of the National Educator Safety and Accountability Act of 2025, a critical step toward protecting students and strengthening accountability in schools nationwide.

Free, easy-to-read National Blueprint from top national experts reveals alarming prevalence, prevention strategies, and urgent policy reforms.

PCA America, with CDC funding, is doing a national audit of state laws that relate to child sexual abuse in school settings. They’re not just recording whether a law exists — they’re also categorizing laws by type (education, personnel rules, standards of conduct, legal accountability).

This map provides information about eighteen (18) states and D.C., that as of October 2024 have enacted laws to address educator sexual misconduct and abuse by requiring new standard practices to screen prospective employees, and by prohibiting schools from aiding and abetting school employees engaged in sexual misconduct to secure positions in other schools through confidentiality agreements aimed at suppressing information about the misconduct.

Across the country, an alarming number of students have been sexually abused by educators, often in plain sight. Despite clear patterns and repeated failures by school systems, accountability remains rare — allowing the epidemic to quietly persist.

At Rosemead High School, generations of students were harassed and groomed by educators under the guise of mentorship. Despite repeated warnings, the system failed to stop the abuse.