[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2739 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2739
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 8, 2025
Ms. Pressley (for herself, Ms. Omar, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Ms.
Bonamici, Mr. Casar, Ms. Norton, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Pocan, Mrs.
Ramirez, Mr. Thanedar, and Ms. Tlaib) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in
addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
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 Latino
students, immigrant students, students with disabilities,
LGBTQI+ 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, 55 percent of high school
students, 38 percent of middle school students, and 18 percent
of elementary school students attended a school with a police
officer during the 2017-2018 school year.
(3) Since 1999, the Federal Government has invested more
than $1,000,000,000 to subsidize the placement of police in
schools, resulting in more than 50,000 law enforcement 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 police stationed on school campuses make schools safer,
and the presence of police has been shown to increase the
likelihood that children will be arrested.
(5) Research has shown that schools with a designated 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. Between 2011 and 2021, news reports detailed at least
285 police assaults of students.
(7) Black, Native American, and Latino 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. 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.
(10) Students with disabilities are also disproportionately
restrained and secluded in schools. Of the 74,813 students who
were physically or mechanically restrained during the 2017-2018
school year, 78 percent received special education services. Of
the 27,499 students who were secluded during the 2017-2018
school year, 77 percent received special education services.
According to a 2020 Government Accountability Office report, 70
percent of school districts report zero incidents of restraint
and seclusion, but only 30 of the Nation's 17,000 school
districts are required to verify the number of incidents of
restraint and seclusion, likely resulting in a significant
undercount of these harmful practices.
(11) 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. In the 2017-2018 school
year, Black girls were 4 times more likely than White girls to
be suspended or expelled. Black girls were also 3 times more
likely to be referred to law enforcement and over 3 times more
likely to be arrested in school.
(12) 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.
(13) Students who are LGBTQI+ 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-
LGBTQI+ peers. A survey of juvenile justice facilities found 40
percent of girls and 20 percent of all detained youth
identified as LGBTQI+, and the overwhelming majority (85
percent) of LGBTQI+ detained youth were youth of color.
(14) Students who are suspended or expelled are nearly 3
times more likely to be in contact with the juvenile justice
system the following year.
(15) 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.
(16) While schools should be sanctuaries for all students,
reports have shown instances where police in schools 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.
(17) School hardening, including the presence of law
enforcement officers on campus, causes students to experience
higher levels of fear, perpetuates the school to prison
pipeline, and undermines the ability of schools and educators
to build learning environments based on mutual trust, respect,
and safety.
(18) 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.
(19) 1,700,000 students attend schools with police but not
1 counselor.
(20) 3,000,000 students attend schools with police but not
1 school nurse.
(21) 6,000,000 students attend schools with police but not
1 school psychologist.
(22) 10,000,000 students attend schools with police but not
1 social worker.
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 maintaining the
presence of covered law enforcement officers in schools 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 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) Covered program.--The term ``covered program'' means--
(A) all the operations of an elementary school, a
secondary school, or a local educational agency; or
(B) a program that serves children who receive
services for which financial assistance is provided in
accordance with the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et
seq.).
(3) Credible messenger.--The term ``credible messenger''
means any individual who serves as a mentor, is from the same
communities in which the students and families they serve live,
and whose lived experiences serve as a credential in their work
to provide guidance, empowerment, support, and encouragement to
students and their families with whom the credible messenger
has shared or similar experiences. Shared experiences include
being a person of color, being directly impacted or having
involvement in the legal system, having involvement in the
child welfare system, being directly impacted by exclusionary
school discipline and policing in schools, having experienced
housing instability, having a disability, or identifying as
LGBTQI+.
(4) Positive behavioral interventions and supports.--The
term ``positive behavioral interventions and supports'' means--
(A) a schoolwide, systematic approach that embeds
evidence-based practices and data-driven decision
making to improve school climate and culture in order
to achieve improved academic and social outcomes and
increase learning for all students (including students
with the most complex and intensive behavioral needs);
and
(B) encompasses a range of systemic and
individualized positive strategies to teach and
reinforce school-expected behaviors, while discouraging
and diminishing undesirable behaviors.
(5) Covered law enforcement officer.--The term ``covered
law enforcement officer''--
(A) means any person who--
(i) is a State, Tribal, or local law
enforcement officer (as defined in section 1204
of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284)); and
(ii) is assigned by the employing law
enforcement agency to a covered program, who is
contracting with a covered program, or who is
employed by a covered program; and
(B) includes an individual referred to as a
``school resource officer'' if that individual meets
the definition in subparagraph (A).
(6) 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 covered law enforcement officers
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 Covered Law Enforcement
Officers.--A recipient of a grant under this part may not use the grant
funds for covered law enforcement officers (as defined in section 4 of
the Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act).''.
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 covered 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 not have covered law
enforcement officers stationed on school campuses, including by
terminating any existing contract with local law enforcement
or, where applicable, dissolving 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 local law enforcement or dissolved their school
district-based 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 law
enforcement or armed school personnel during the duration of
the 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--
(A) identify the uses of funds in subsection (d)
based on meaningful community engagement; and
(B) establish ongoing stakeholder oversight,
guidance, and coordination of the proposed activities
or policies with a broad group of stakeholders,
including any groups of students, as well as their
families, who have been disproportionately arrested,
suspended, or expelled, to ensure proposed activities
and policies mitigate disparities in the use of
exclusionary discipline and promote a positive school
culture.
(d) Uses of Funds.--
(1) Required use.--A local educational agency receiving
funds under this section shall use such grant funds to hire,
maintain, or train school counselors, school psychologists,
nurses, social workers, credible messengers, community health
workers and trauma-informed personnel, dedicated staff
specifically trained in de-escalation 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) Permitted uses.--In addition to the required use
described in paragraph (1), a local educational agency
receiving funds under this section may also use grant funds to
carry out 1 or more of the following:
(A) Implementing schoolwide positive behavioral
interventions and supports, restorative justice
programs and interventions, mediators, social and
emotional learning programs, or other evidence-based
trauma-informed services.
(B) Providing ongoing professional development to
teachers, teacher assistants, school leaders,
counselors, specialized instructional support
personnel, credible messengers, and mental health
professionals that--
(i) 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;
(ii) improves school capacity to identify,
refer, and provide services to students in need
of trauma support services;
(iii) reflects the best practices for
trauma-informed identification, referral, and
support developed by the Interagency Task Force
on Trauma-Informed Care;
(iv) 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
(v) reduces the number of Black, Latino,
Native American, and LGBTQI+ students who are
subjected to punitive discipline practices
rather than trauma-informed services and
supports.
(e) Prohibition.--No portion of any grant funds awarded under this
section may be used for--
(1) the development, establishment, implementation, or
enforcement of punitive 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 or programs, including metal detectors,
surveillance cameras, 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.--
(1) In general.--Each local educational agency receiving a
grant under this section shall prepare and submit an annual
report to the Secretary containing the information described in
paragraph (2). Such report shall be made publicly available.
(2) Contents.--Subject to paragraph (3), the report
described in paragraph (1) shall include information about--
(A) how the grant funds were used;
(B) the number and percentage of students who were
arrested by or referred to law enforcement officers in
the previous year compared to the number and percentage
arrested or referred during the term of the grant;
(C) in the aggregate, the reasons for those
arrests;
(D) demographic data of students arrested or
referred to law enforcement officers, disaggregated and
cross-tabulated by race, ethnicity, age, gender, status
as a child with a disability, and whether the student
is eligible for a free or reduced price lunch under the
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C.
1751 et seq.);
(E) the number of metal detectors and surveillance
cameras used by each school served by the local
educational agency, as well as policies governing the
use of these devices;
(F) whether facial recognition technology is used
by the local educational agency, and if so, the
policies governing the use of such technology; and
(G) whether software programs that monitor or mine
the social media use or technology use of students or
the families of students are used by, or at the
direction of, the local educational agency, and if so,
the contract with the provider of those software
programs as well as the policies governing the use of
such programs.
(3) Personally identifiable information.--Collection or
disaggregation of information shall not be required under
subparagraphs (B) through (D) of paragraph (2) to the extent
that such collection or disaggregation would reveal personally
identifiable information about an individual student or
otherwise violate privacy laws.
(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 $5,000,000,000.
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