[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4360 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4360
To divert Federal funding away from supporting the presence of police
in schools and toward evidence-based and trauma informed services that
address the needs of marginalized students and improve academic
outcomes, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 29, 2020
Mr. Murphy (for himself and Ms. Warren) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To divert Federal funding away from supporting the presence of police
in schools and toward evidence-based and trauma informed services that
address the needs of marginalized students and improve academic
outcomes, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Counseling Not Criminalization in
Schools Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Over the last 50 years, our Nation's schools have
become sites for increased criminalization and surveillance of
young people, particularly Black, Native American, and Latinx
students, immigrant students, students with disabilities,
LGBTQ+ students, students experiencing homelessness, students
involved in the foster care system, and other historically
marginalized students.
(2) Despite significant decreases in the rate of serious
crimes and violence on school campuses over the past 20 years,
improving upon already low rates, 67 percent of high school
students, 45 percent of middle school students, and 19 percent
of elementary school students attend a school with a police
officer.
(3) Since 1999, the Federal Government has invested more
than $1,000,000,000 to subsidize the placement of police in
schools, resulting in roughly 46,000 school resource officers
patrolling the halls of elementary and secondary public schools
across the Nation.
(4) A growing body of research has not found any evidence
that school resource officers make schools safer, and school
resource officers have been shown to increase the likelihood
that children will be arrested, often by the school resource
officer while on campus.
(5) Research has shown that schools with a designated
school law enforcement officer on duty arrested students at 5
times the rate of comparable schools without such an officer.
(6) When police are present in schools, students of color
face an increased risk of being assaulted by police. Student-
recorded videos of police violence in schools regularly
circulate through news channels, articles, and social media,
exposing violence perpetrated by police within schoolhouse
gates.
(7) Black, Native American, and Latinx students are more
likely than their White peers to attend schools with police
officers on campus and are more likely to be referred to law
enforcement or arrested while in school.
(8) Black students represent 31 percent of all school-
related arrests, despite making up only 15 percent of all
public school students, and are 3 times more likely to be
suspended or expelled than White students. Native American and
Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian students are more than
twice as likely to be arrested as White students.
(9) Students with disabilities are more likely than their
peers without disabilities to be referred to law enforcement or
arrested. Students of color with disabilities are more likely
to be referred to law enforcement than either their White peers
with disabilities, or their peers of color without
disabilities. These students are also disproportionately
restrained and secluded in schools. Of the 87,000 students who
were restrained during the 2015-2016 school year, 71 percent
received special education services and 27 percent of students
restrained were Black.
(10) According to the Department of Education, while Black
girls comprise only 16 percent of girls in elementary and
secondary schools, they make up 42 percent of girls receiving
the most severe forms of school discipline and severe
punishment, such as corporal punishment, and represent 34
percent of girls arrested on campus.
(11) Research shows that these racial disparities in
discipline rates are not a result of differences in student
behavior but instead reflect the ways in which students of
color face more punitive discipline than their White peers for
similar behavior.
(12) Students who are LGBTQ+ often have intersecting
marginalized identities and experience exclusionary discipline
at disproportionate rates that make it more likely they will
interact with the juvenile justice system than their non-LGBTQ+
peers.
(13) Students who are suspended or expelled are nearly
threefold more likely to be in contact with the juvenile
justice system the following year.
(14) According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, more
than 30,000 children under the age of 10 were arrested since
2013. On school campuses, more than 290,000 students were
referred to law enforcement. The United States spends $240
daily, on average, per youth detained in juvenile facilities.
(15) While schools should be sanctuaries for all students,
reports have shown instances where school resource officers
collect tips and disciplinary information from teachers and
school administrators and share it with U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agents to build deportation cases against
students and their families.
(16) School hardening, including the presence of school
resource officers on campus, causes students to experience
higher levels of fear, perpetuate the school to prison
pipeline, and undermine the ability of schools and educators to
build learning environments undergirded by mutual trust,
respect, and safety.
(17) Ninety percent of students are in public schools where
the number of counselors, social workers, nurses, and
psychologists do not meet recommended professional standards.
Professional standards recommend at least 1 counselor and 1
social worker for every 250 students and at least 1 nurse and 1
psychologist for every 750 students and every 700 students,
respectively.
(18) 1,700,000 students attend schools with police but not
1 counselor.
(19) 3,000,000 students attend schools with police but not
1 school nurse.
(20) 6,000,000 students attend schools with police but no
school psychologists.
(21) 10,000,000 students attend schools with police but no
social workers.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
It is the purpose of this Act to--
(1) address the needs of marginalized students, ensure
schools are welcoming for students, and improve academic
outcomes by eliminating Federal funding for school-based law
enforcement and establishing a continuum of care and positive
schoolwide systems of services that are evidence-based,
inclusive, racially and gender responsive, and trauma informed;
and
(2) support local educational agencies that choose to
terminate their contracts with local law enforcement agencies
or, where applicable, dissolve or disband district-based police
departments, and invest resources in personnel and services
that create truly safe and inclusive schools for all students
based on community engagement and deliberative consultation.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) ESEA terms.--The terms ``elementary school'',
``evidence-based'', ``local educational agency'', ``parent'',
``professional development'', ``school leader'', ``secondary
school'', ``Secretary'', and ``specialized instructional
support personnel'' have the meaning given those terms in
section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(2) Positive behavior intervention and support.--The term
``positive behavior intervention and support'' means using a
systematic and evidence-based approach to achieve improved
academic and social outcomes for students.
(3) Sworn law enforcement officer.--The term ``sworn law
enforcement officer'' means any person who--
(A) has the power to detain, arrest, issue a
citation, perform a custodial investigation, or refer a
person to criminal or juvenile court; or
(B) is considered under State law to meet the
definition of law enforcement.
(4) Trauma-informed services.--The term ``trauma-informed
services'' means a service delivery approach that--
(A) recognizes and responds to the impacts of
trauma with evidence-based supports and intervention;
(B) emphasizes physical, psychological, and
emotional safety for both providers of services and
survivors of trauma; and
(C) creates opportunities for survivors of trauma
to rebuild a sense of healing and empowerment.
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR POLICE IN SCHOOLS.
(a) Federal Funds Prohibition.--Notwithstanding the Omnibus Crime
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.),
including subpart 1 of part E of title I of that Act (34 U.S.C. 10151
et seq.) (relating to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance
Grant Program) and part Q of title I of that Act (34 U.S.C. 13081 et
seq.) (relating to the ``Cops on the Beat'' grant program), or any
other provision of law, no Federal funds may be appropriated or used
for hiring, maintaining, or training sworn law enforcement officers to
be used or employed in elementary or secondary schools, preschools, or
programs based in elementary or secondary schools in any capacity.
(b) COPS Grant Program.--Section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
(A) by striking paragraph (12);
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (13) through (23)
as paragraphs (12) through (22), respectively; and
(C) in paragraph (21), as so redesignated, by
striking ``through (21)'' and inserting ``through
(20)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(n) Prohibition on Use of Funds for Sworn Law Enforcement
Officers.--A recipient of a grant under this part may not use the grant
funds for sworn law enforcement officers who operate in and around
elementary and secondary schools.''.
SEC. 6. SUPPORTING LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES IN TRANSITIONING AWAY
FROM POLICE IN SCHOOLS.
(a) Grant Program Established.--The Secretary of Education shall
award grants, on a competitive and rolling basis, to local educational
agencies to enable those local educational agencies--
(1) to replace sworn law enforcement officers in elementary
and secondary schools with personnel and services that support
mental health and trauma-informed services; and
(2) to reform school safety and disciplinary policies so
they reflect evidence-based practices that do not rely on the
criminal justice system and provide the necessary staff
training and support to implement such policies.
(b) Application.--A local educational agency desiring a grant under
this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time,
in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may
require, including an assurance that--
(1) the local educational agency will terminate any
existing contract with local law enforcement or, where
applicable, dissolve school district-based police departments,
at least 30 days prior to the entity receiving funds under this
section; and
(2) the local educational agency will not establish any new
contract with law enforcement or create its own school police
department for the duration of the grant.
(c) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary
shall give priority to--
(1) local educational agencies that terminated their
contract with all law enforcement or disbanded their school
district police department prior to submitting an application
and provide assurances that the local educational agency will
not create or restart a contract with State or local law
enforcement, create or reinstate a school district police
department, or create or restart a program of other armed
school personnel during the duration of this grant;
(2) local educational agencies with a larger share of
students who are economically disadvantaged, in the event that
funds are insufficient to award grants to all eligible
applicants; and
(3) local educational agencies that identify the uses of
funds in subsection (d) based on meaningful community
engagement and deliberative consultation.
(d) Uses of Funds.--A local educational agency receiving funds
under this section shall use such grant funds to carry out 1 or more of
the following:
(1) Hiring or training school counselors, school
psychologists, nurses, or social workers, community health
workers and trauma-informed personnel, dedicated staff
specifically trained in deescalation and violence interruption
practices, staff trained in anti-bias practices, doctoral level
specialists in behavior planning and intervention, or other
specialists or individuals with expertise in school climate and
behavior.
(2) Implementing schoolwide positive behavior interventions
and supports, restorative justice programs and interventions,
mediators, social and emotional learning programs, or other
evidence-based trauma-informed services.
(3) Providing professional development to teachers, teacher
assistants, school leaders, counselors, specialized
instructional support personnel, and mental health
professionals that--
(A) fosters safe, inclusive, and stable learning
environments that support the social, emotional,
mental, and academic well-being of students and prevent
and mitigate the effects of trauma, including through
social and emotional learning;
(B) improves school capacity to identify, refer,
and provide services to students in need of trauma
support services;
(C) reflects the best practices for trauma-informed
identification, referral, and support developed by the
Interagency Task Force on Trauma-Informed Care;
(D) reduces the number of students with
disabilities experiencing school discipline for their
disability-related behavior through specific training
on the identification, development, and implementation
of Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs); and
(E) reduces the number of Black, Latinx, Native
American, and LGBTQ+ students who are disciplined for
minor, age-appropriate behaviors that should be
addressed through evidence-based, trauma-informed
services and support.
(e) Prohibition.--No portion of any grant funds awarded under this
section may be used for--
(1) the development, establishment, implementation, or
enforcement of zero-tolerance school discipline policies,
including the commission, contracting of, or agreements with
law enforcement that support the presence of police in schools,
including formal or informal partnerships or data and
information sharing agreements with the Department of Justice
or Secretary of Homeland Security, including U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
(2) the purchase, maintenance, or installation of
surveillance equipment, including metal detectors, facial
recognition technology, or software programs that monitor or
mine the social media use or technology use of students; or
(3) arming teachers, principals, school leaders, or other
school personnel.
(f) Grant Amounts.--The amount of grant funds received under this
section by a local educational agency shall be based on the number of
students enrolled in the local educational agency.
(g) Reporting.--Each local educational agency receiving a grant
under this section shall prepare and submit a report to the Secretary
containing information about--
(1) how the grant funds were used;
(2) the number of students who were arrested by or referred
to sworn law enforcement officers in the previous year compared
to the number arrested or referred during the term of the
grant;
(3) the reasons for arrests; and
(4) demographic data of students arrested or referred to
sworn law enforcement officers, disaggregated by race,
ethnicity, age, gender, status as a child with a disability,
and socioeconomic status.
(h) Supplement Not Supplant.--A local educational agency shall use
Federal funds received under this section only to supplement the funds
that would, in the absence of such Federal funds, be made available
from State and local sources for the activities described in subsection
(d), and not to supplant such funds.
(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $2,500,000,000.
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