Education Secretary Linda McMahon sounded the alarm Sunday over sexual abuse in U.S. schools, citing statistics indicating that roughly 1 in 10 students experience sexual misconduct before completing high school.
McMahon discussed the issue during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” where she said the Trump administration has been targeting school districts accused of failing to properly handle abusive teachers and staff members.
“This stat will probably blow your mind. It did mine,” McMahon said. “Statistics show 1 in 10 children before they finish high school will have been sexually molested in school.”
McMahon said the Department of Education examined national education statistics and specifically highlighted problems identified in California.
“We did a study. And it came from the general education statistics that were afforded to us,” she said. “And so when we looked at that and we really looked at those stats coming out of California.”
McMahon alleged that some school employees accused of misconduct have been transferred to other schools rather than being terminated, allowing them to continue working with children without the accusations appearing prominently in their employment records.
“Instead of firing those teachers, those teachers just get sent to another school,” McMahon said, adding that allegations can involve teachers as well as other faculty and staff members.
“We have really been cracking down on that as well,” she added.
The New York Post reported that it contacted the Department of Education seeking the specific statistics and methodology behind McMahon’s statement.
The 1-in-10 figure has precedent in earlier federal research, though the underlying category was broader than criminal sexual molestation alone.
A report prepared for Congress more than two decades ago estimated that more than 4.5 million students had experienced sexual misconduct by school employees. The conduct studied ranged from criminal physical sexual abuse to inappropriate sexual comments and other misconduct.
That report similarly estimated that approximately 1 in 10 students experienced some form of educator sexual misconduct.
The Trump administration has recently increased pressure on school systems over their handling of employees accused of abuse.
California schools faced the possibility of losing $50 million in federal Title I funding this summer as the administration scrutinized whether districts had adequately disciplined educators accused of misconduct, per the New York Post.
McMahon’s comments came as students across the country prepare to return to classrooms for the new academic year.
During the same interview, the education secretary also addressed the growing use of artificial intelligence in schools.
McMahon said she has seen AI used effectively as an individualized learning tool, allowing programs to adjust material based on a student’s progress while teachers monitor their performance.
“The teacher can monitor to see if a child is a bit behind and repeat information for them,” she said. “If a child is really excelling, then their programs get sped up a bit.”
McMahon described the technology as “AI with guardrails” and said it could become an effective educational tool when implemented properly.
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt pushed back on the idea of introducing AI broadly into younger classrooms, arguing that previous technology experiments have harmed learning outcomes.
Haidt called for keeping AI chatbots out of elementary schools while allowing more experimentation with the technology among older students.
