The Shocking Details:
Steven Perez, a Fort Hamilton High School social studies teacher, didn’t just cross professional boundaries—he obliterated them. Investigators say Perez spent years texting a 15-year-old student about his “girlfriend problems” and child support woes, lacing messages with unsettling pet names like “sweety” and “beautiful.” But it didn’t stop there. He allegedly fueled her underage habits with cigarettes and vaping oil—because what’s a little delinquency between “friends”?—before reportedly trying to kiss her after a drive home. Classy.

Justice? What Justice?
Despite his December 2021 arrest for acting “injurious to a child” and harassment, the Brooklyn DA handed Perez a get-out-of-jail-free card, refusing to prosecute. Let that sink in: A grown man texts a minor about his dating life, supplies her with nicotine, and makes a pass—and the system shrugs. Is this New York’s new standard for “insufficient evidence,” or just another case of adults failing kids?

The DOE’s Paper-Thin Accountability:
The Department of Education finally fired Perez… but only after the scandal exploded. Before that? A cozy reassignment to a desk job—a classic bureaucratic rubber stamp. Meanwhile, NYC schools still lack policies to ban teachers from sliding into students’ DMs. How many more “Steven Perezes” are lurking in classrooms, armed with vape pens and predatory charm?

Fort Hamilton: A Legacy of Scandal
This isn’t even the school’s first rodeo. Remember the teacher who quit in 2011 after threatening to “shoot up” the building? Fort Hamilton’s motto might as well be: “Where educators come to make headlines—for all the wrong reasons.”

The Real Lesson Here?
Perez walks free. The DA looks away. The DOE drags its feet. And students? They’re left to wonder: Who’s actually protecting them? If this is how NYC handles grooming-by-textbook, maybe it’s time to rewrite the whole damn curriculum.