The Los Angeles Unified School District is under investigation by the federal government for its soft handling of teachers accused of sexually abusing kids.
The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday launched a probe into LAUSD over rules that allegedly shield predatory teachers — keeping them in classrooms or quietly transferring them instead of firing them.
“The Los Angeles Unified School District … appears to be protecting sexual predators at the expense of its students,” states the announcement issued by the Department of Ed.
The Department’s Office for Civil Rights is looking into LAUSD policies “that appear to automatically reassign teachers accused of sexual misconduct with students, including engaging in exploitative ‘romantic relationships,’ to another school,” the memo continues.
LAUSD’s protection for accused perv teachers “was cemented in an agreement with the teachers’ union that appears to guarantee that teachers will be reassigned, not terminated or immediately removed from student-facing roles,” the department claimed.
The feds say the district’s deal with the union keeps alleged predator teachers on the payroll and working with LAUSD’s 400,000 kids, even when they are “credibly accused of” infractions including:
- Sexual harassment of a student;
- Behavior with a student that is motivated by sexual interest;
- Maintaining a sexual or romantic relationship with a student or other minor;
- Creating, selling, or using child pornography;
- Unnecessary physical contact with a student; and,
- Failure to report suspected child abuse.
“Under Title IX, schools must respond appropriately and address claims of sexual misconduct, including sexual harassment and assault, in a timely manner,” said Department of Ed Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey in a statement.
“But [LAUSD] seems to be putting the continued employment of sexual predators above the safety of students,” Richey added.
A spokeswoman for LAUSD in a statement said the district “takes all allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment with the utmost seriousness.”
The district “follows established Title IX procedures and other applicable laws and regulations, which are designed to ensure a fair, thorough, and impartial process for all parties,” the spokeswoman added.
Representatives for the city’s teachers’ union didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The new federal probe is just the latest headache for the nation’s second largest school district, which this year had to bench its superintendent Alberto Carvalho after the FBI raided Carvalho’s home and office over a deal he did for the district with a corrupt AI firm.
Another LAUSD official was indicted this year over an alleged $22 million kickback scheme with a Texas tech company.
And the federal government has an active investigation into the district’s 2019 policy that directed teachers and staff to not disclose a student’s “gender identity” as much as possible.
LAUSD’s controversial “Black Student Achievement Program,” which provides race-based programming for black students that is not open to students of other races, is also facing an investigation by the Department of Ed’s Office for Civil Rights.
Despite those troubles, LAUSD in April struck a last-minute deal to boost teacher pay by nearly 14% under threat of a strike from the teachers’ union. School support workers scored raises of up to 24% under a separate contract settled last month.
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