Education

Oklahoma lawmakers advance bill targeting teacher predators

April 1, 2026

Ray Carter

Grappling with the problem of child abusers employed by public schools, Oklahoma lawmakers have advanced several bills in recent years to stop the “pass the trash” practice that allows predators to resign and obtain employment in other school districts without notification being provided to either law enforcement or the broader school system.

Senate Bill 1733, by state Sen. Kristen Thompson and state Rep. Mark Lawson, is one of several such bills advancing this year.

SB 1733 requires school district leaders to immediately notify law enforcement any time a school employee is found to be privately texting or emailing a student in a sexually inappropriate way.

The legislation also requires school employees to report suspected sexual abuse of a student to local law enforcement within 24 hours and requires that notification be provided before a school begins an investigation or disciplinary proceedings against an employee.

Under the bill, all school employees will have to annually sign an attestation acknowledging the requirement to report suspected child abuse or neglect.

When the bill advanced from the Senate, Thompson issued a statement.

“Protecting our children and properly investigating allegations of sexual misconduct must always be a top priority,” said Thompson, R-Edmond. “School administrators do a great job managing schools, but they are not investigators. Law enforcement officials follow a specific protocol and chain of command during the investigative process to ensure evidence isn’t mishandled and any allegations can be proven in a court of law. This will provide better accountability when these situations arise.”

Some high-profile cases have increased focus on the problem.

In 2023, former Miami Public Schools teacher/coach Kanyen Derris Cole was arrested for alleged inappropriate conduct or relationships with female students that included sexting.

During the investigation, police determined that Cole, who had moved on from Miami to the Salina school district, had been accused of similar wrongdoing when he worked in the Sand Springs school district prior to his employment in Miami.

Police found that Sand Springs officials failed to warn Miami administrators of the allegations, and one Sand Springs administrator even provided a letter of recommendation supporting Cole’s hiring in Miami.

Miami police obtained documents from the Sand Springs Police Department showing Cole had “multiple past issues while employed with the Sand Springs Public Schools System,” including “multiple reports where Cole was investigated/questioned about his contact with female students,” and that “multiple people within the Administration of the Sand Springs Public School System were aware of the allegations as well.”

According to officials with Stop Educator Sexual Abuse Misconduct & Exploitation (SESAME), a national organization that focuses on teacher predators, only about 6 percent of cases of alleged teacher abuse nationwide are reported to law enforcement officials.

Based on past research, the group estimates that one in 10 students suffers some form of educator sexual misconduct between kindergarten and 12th grade, about 5.5 million children nationwide. One predator can have as many as 73 victims in their lifetime because they are passed from jurisdiction to jurisdiction—a minimum of three jurisdictions before a predator is finally reported and punished, according to SESAME.

SB 1733 passed the Oklahoma Senate on a 44-0 vote on March 11 and passed out of the House Criminal Judiciary Committee on a 6-0 vote this week. The bill now proceeds to the House Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight committee.