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Education Dept. Is Investigating Sexual Misconduct in N.Y.C. Schools

The civil rights investigation was the latest salvo by the Trump administration against the largest school system in the country.

By Matthew Haag

The U.S. Education Department has opened an investigation into the New York City Department of Education’s handling of sexual misconduct cases in its schools, the latest action by the Trump administration against the largest school system in the country. [...] But that claim appears to be a misreading of a recent report by The 74, an education news outlet, which found that there had been 1,973 recent lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by school personnel over decades across New York State, including at private and Catholic schools.

Nicole Brownstein, a spokeswoman at the city’s Department of Education, said that the school system took “allegations of abuse very seriously.” [...] While the agency on Tuesday announced that its Office for Civil Rights will investigate allegations of sexual abuse by school employees against students in eight states, the department singled out its probe in New York City. Federal officials said they would review allegations that the district had fostered a “systemic and disturbing pattern of enabling abuse” and allowed educators accused of misconduct to keep their jobs. The department did not disclose the source of the allegations.