Pass the Trash is a slang term that in education refers to allowing problematic employees accused of misconduct to quietly leave a school without consequences, allowing the predator to enter a new school with a seemingly clean reputation. This problem, along with a lack of data on sexual predators in public schools, has facilitated the growing problem in America’s schools. The problem, often swept under the rug, as school superintendents tended to handle sexual abuse in-house to avoid staining not only their reputation but also the reputation of the school district.

Post a prayer for your state!

View Comments (11)

The preferred way school administrators take care of sex abuse cases is to allow the sexual perpetrator the option of being prosecuted or resigning from a school position. This process allows those who prey on school children to float from one school district to another, unscathed by their past actions. This method allows the predator’s state-issued teaching certificate to remain intact, allowing them to accept reassignments at another school within a state’s education system.

The process among educators is called Passing the Trash, and according to newly published data, it occurs frequently. Not only does Passing the Trash harm students, but it also suppresses attempts to collect data on the magnitude of the problem.

For decades, the only data on the number of sexual abuse cases where the perpetrator was an educator was derived from research requested by the U.S. Department of Education in 2004. At that time, the data showed that approximately five million children had experienced some form of educator misconduct. In 2020, the Office of Civil Rights, at the Department of Education, released data from the years 2017-2018, revealing that 14,152 instances of sexual assaults had occurred in public schools.

The lack of attention to this issue has made it a major problem in our schools. The latest large-scale, multistate survey conducted on students in grades K-12 found that 11.7 percent, or 5,803,200 students, reported educator sexual misconduct.

One of the few state superintendents who has taken action to condemn the practice of Passing the Trash is Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters. Since Walters took office on January 9, 2023, the Oklahoma State Department of Education has brought 125 educator misconduct cases before the State Board of Education, resulting in over 20 formal revocations and 45 voluntary surrenders of teaching certificates. Walters advocates for permanently revoking teaching certificates of those convicted of sexual abuse. He also believes a national database would prevent predators from continuing their teaching profession in a different state’s school system.

Psychology Today, in a recent publication, gave a list of long-term psychological issues common to students who suffered sexual abuse from an educator. The abused are more likely to suffer long-term psychological well-being, exhibit suicidal tendencies, excessively use alcohol and drugs, and engage in sexual promiscuity.

Prayer Points

Pray that state legislatures pass laws that will not allow sex offenders to resign quietly.

Pray state superintendents will permanently revoke teaching certificates for educators who are convicted of sexual misconduct.

This practice would prevent sexual offenders from moving from state to state.

Pray that school administrators will no longer pass the Trash.

School administrators should not pass on their problems to someone else.

Pray for the establishment of a mandatory nationwide database for all confirmed instances of educator sexual misconduct.

A national database of convicted sex offenders would fall under what remains of the Department of Education. Without a central reporting system, predators are free to seek credentials that allow them to teach in different states where they have no record of being a sexual predator.

Pray for school superintendents responsible for vetting the educators they hire to work in their respective schools.

School superintendents suffer the most when educators hired under their tenure are found to be perpetrators. Superintendents will require a mandatory background check covering fifty states and overseas teaching positions. 

Pray for healing for all the children who have suffered sexual abuse in education.

Add your own prayers in the comments below.

Nancy Huff is an educator with a mission to equip believers to pray strategically for the Cultural Mountain of Education. She has authored Taking the Mountain of Education: A Strategic Prayer Guide to Transform America’s Schools,  Safety Zone: Scriptural Prayers to Revolutionize Your School, and Decrees for Your School. She leads prayer groups to pray at key educational locations across the US. For additional information, go to: https://takingthemountainofeducation.com/author/nancyahuff/. Photo Credit: Rubén Rodriguez on Unsplash.