The overwhelming majority of Tennessee educators are dedicated professionals who devote their lives to helping children succeed. They arrive early, stay late, mentor struggling students, and often spend their own money to ensure every child has the opportunity to learn. They deserve our respect and trust.
Yet it only takes a handful of predators to destroy that trust.
When an educator exploits a position of authority to sexually abuse or groom a student, the harm extends far beyond a single victim. It devastates families, traumatizes classmates, undermines confidence in schools, and tarnishes the reputation of an entire profession built on public trust.
There should be no ambiguity about this issue. There is no place for pedophiles or sexual predators in Tennessee’s classrooms.
In 2018, Tennessee lawmakers took important steps to address educator sexual misconduct. Since then, the General Assembly has strengthened student protections by revising the Teacher Code of Ethics and passing the Tennessee Anti-Grooming Act, recognizing that grooming behaviors often precede abuse and warrant serious criminal penalties.
Now, in 2026, legislators are once again considering whether additional safeguards are needed. They should.
Student safety must never be reduced to a partisan issue or a public-relations exercise. Every parent has the right to expect that when they send their child to school, the adults entrusted with their care will protect them—not exploit them. Every educator has a responsibility to report suspected misconduct immediately, regardless of the accused’s position or popularity.
The statistics are sobering. Research estimates that about 11.7 percent of students surveyed across four states experienced some form of sexual misconduct by teachers or school employees during their K-12 education. While most educators never engage in such behavior, even one case is one too many because victims carry those scars long after graduation.
Unfortunately, Tennessee has witnessed too many recent reminders of this reality.
Across the state, educators have faced allegations of aggravated sexual battery, statutory rape by an authority figure, sexual exploitation, electronic solicitation, and abuse of vulnerable students. Cases involving Kenneth Clay in Memphis-Shelby County, Kadija Kuykendall in Nashville, Mario Mumphery in Nashville, Ashley Palmer in Sevier County, Steven Hirschi in Clarksville, Chad Brooks in Knox County, and allegations surrounding Katie Goins in Blount County have left communities forever changed by accusations of misconduct. Other investigations in Chattanooga, Decatur County, Gallatin, Morristown, Shelbyville, and elsewhere underscore that no community is immune.
Each case has its own facts, legal process, and presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Yet collectively, they reveal a troubling pattern: predators can exploit gaps in reporting, oversight, or communication when systems fail to act quickly. That must change.
Schools cannot allow concerns to be minimized, delayed, or quietly transferred between districts. Administrators must act decisively when credible allegations arise. Mandatory reporting laws must be enforced without exception. Licensing agencies, law enforcement, and school districts must communicate effectively so that individuals accused or convicted of serious misconduct cannot simply relocate and seek employment elsewhere.
Bringing greater clarity to Tennessee law and addressing changes such as AI will help accomplish precisely that.
Strong legislation should prioritize children’s safety over institutional reputation. It should impose severe consequences for abuse of positions of trust while ensuring fair investigations that protect the rights of everyone involved. It should strengthen reporting requirements, improve background checks, increase transparency where appropriate, and close loopholes that allow sexual predators to slip through the cracks.
Equally important, lawmakers should continue supporting professional ethics training so educators recognize warning signs, understand professional boundaries, and know their legal obligation to report suspected abuse immediately.
The overwhelming majority of teachers welcome these protections because they understand what critics often overlook: accountability protects good educators as much as it protects students.
Every predator removed from a classroom strengthens public confidence in the profession. Every loophole closed protects another child. Every report taken seriously reinforces the culture of trust that schools depend on.
As I wrote eight years ago, Tennessee faced this challenge before. Today we face it again—not because our schools have failed, but because predators continually seek positions of trust wherever children gather. Our responsibility is to ensure they never find safe harbor within Tennessee’s education system.
Any educator’s sexual misconduct involving children destroys trust and harms the entire school community. We must unite—parents, educators, administrators, legislators, and law enforcement—to ensure safety and security in every Tennessee classroom while upholding the teaching profession’s high standards.
Protecting children is not optional. It is the primary obligation of public education.
The teaching profession is built on trust. Those who betray that trust deserve the strongest legal consequences available. Those who honor it deserve a system that relentlessly protects students, defends ethical educators, and sends an unmistakable message to every would-be predator:
You are not welcome in Tennessee’s schools.
JC Bowman is the Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee.
