Catching the Trash: Predatory Teachers

Beth and Andrew welcome in Paul Zimmerman of the Defense of Freedom Institute about his recently released report, “Catching the Trash: Holding Teacher Unions, School Districts, and the U.S. Department of Education Accountable for the Epidemic of Sexual Abuse in Public Schools.”

Zimmerman details the alarming rise in reported sexual abuse cases by teachers in public schools in recent years and explains how abusive teachers are allowed to remain in classrooms, being passed from one school district to another without parent’s having any knowledge of the teachers’ history of misconduct. We also discuss the teachers unions role in protecting abusive teachers and Zimmerman walks us through what kind of local, state and federal legislation can help put an end to the these shocking and appalling trends of sexual abuse in our nation’s public schools.

Paul Zimmerman serves as Policy Counsel at the Defense of Freedom Institute, where he leads the organization's Teacher Union Accountability Project and contributes to its legal and oversight efforts. Prior to joining DFI, Zimmerman was Counsel at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he coordinated agency responses to requests from oversight entities, consulted on legal privileges in the context of litigation and Freedom of Information Act requests, and prepared senior personnel for testimony before congressional committees. He also worked for over a decade in multiple roles at the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies.