For years, parents in Los Angeles have trusted their public schools to keep their children safe. But the system governing teacher misconduct in the United Teachers Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Unified School District has too often failed that basic responsibility.
Through negotiated contract provisions and internal district policies, educators accused of serious misconduct, including sexual misconduct, have in some cases been quietly reassigned to other schools rather than permanently removed from classrooms. Parents frequently have little or no notice when these transfers occur, leaving families unaware that credible allegations may have followed a teacher to a new campus.
This isn’t how accountability should work in institutions entrusted with children.
Los Angeles taxpayers have paid enormous sums to settle abuse cases involving school employees. Since 2012, LAUSD paid hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and judgments tied to sexual misconduct and abuse claims involving staff members. Individual cases have resulted in multi-million-dollar payouts, including a $24 million settlement involving abuse of three elementary school students and another $19.9 million settlement tied to abuse by a school aide involving multiple victims.
The district’s response to these liabilities illustrates the scale of the problem. LAUSD has authorized hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds specifically to pay abuse-related legal settlements, shifting the financial burden to taxpayers rather than addressing the systemic failures that allowed abuse to occur in the first place.
None of this should be controversial. Teachers accused of serious misconduct deserve due process, but students deserve protection and transparency.
Unfortunately, the current structure often prioritizes protecting employment status over protecting students.
Contracts negotiated with the United Teachers Los Angeles have historically made it difficult to remove educators accused of misconduct quickly, even when allegations are credible. Administrators face layers of procedural hurdles, while parents are often left in the dark about risks affecting their own children.
Even more troubling, past cases have revealed school officials discouraging victims from coming forward or minimizing allegations in order to avoid scandal.
The vast majority of teachers are dedicated professionals who entered the classroom to help students succeed. Those educators are poorly served by a system that allows a small number of bad actors, and the bureaucratic protections surrounding them, to erode public trust in the entire profession.
Meaningful reform will require confronting uncomfortable truths about how school systems and unions have handled misconduct cases.
Los Angeles parents deserve transparency.
Students deserve safety.
Taxpayers deserve accountability.
And teachers who are doing the right thing deserve a system that protects their profession’s integrity, not one that shields wrongdoing.