Ending PUSHOUT Act of 2025
- Bill Number
- S. 1338
- Origin Chamber
- Senate
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 1
- Policy Area
- Education
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2025-04-08: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Last Updated
- 2025-12-05T06:45:54Z
AI-Generated Summary
Purpose of the Legislation
The Ending PUSHOUT Act of 2025 aims to address discriminatory and excessive school discipline practices that disproportionately affect students of color, particularly girls of color, as well as other marginalized groups. It seeks to improve data collection on these practices, reduce their overuse, minimize lost instructional time, and prevent students from being pushed out of school or into the criminal justice system due to factors like trauma, bias, or unsupported mental health needs.
Key Provisions
- Enhanced Data Collection (Section 4): The Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the Department of Education must annually collect detailed data on exclusionary discipline (practices that remove students from regular learning environments, such as suspensions or expulsions) in public preschools, elementary, and secondary schools, including charter, virtual, and special education settings. Data covers suspensions, expulsions, school transfers, law enforcement referrals, arrests, and placements in facilities, broken down by demographics like race, ethnicity, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), disability, income, English learner status, foster care, housing, Tribal affiliation, and pregnancy/parenting status. Reasons for actions (e.g., zero-tolerance violations, dress code breaches, insubordination) and lost instructional days are included. Annual reports to Congress must identify patterns of overuse or discrimination in schools, districts, and states, with public access in multiple languages and formats while protecting privacy under laws like the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
- Healing School Climate Grants (Section 5): The Secretary of Education awards competitive grants to local educational agencies (LEAs, like school districts), including those operating charter or Bureau of Indian Education schools, or qualified nonprofits. Grants prioritize areas with high disparities in discipline for marginalized students. Recipients must:
- Prohibit out-of-school suspensions or expulsions for young children (preschool through grade 5) unless involving serious physical injury; ban them entirely for all grades (preschool through 12) for minor issues like defiance, tardiness, or grooming policies; and forbid corporal punishment (physical pain for discipline), seclusion (isolating a student), mechanical/chemical restraints (devices or drugs to control behavior, unless medically prescribed), and dangerous physical restraints (e.g., those restricting breathing).
- Use funds for required activities: evaluating and revising discipline policies with input from students, families, and communities; training educators on bias, trauma-informed care (approaches recognizing trauma's effects and promoting safety/healing), restorative practices (relationship-building to resolve conflicts), and culturally sustaining methods (incorporating students' cultural assets); implementing alternatives like positive behavioral interventions (evidence-based strategies to encourage good behavior) and multi-tiered supports (layered interventions based on student needs); improving school climate through counseling, mentoring, social-emotional learning, and culturally responsive curricula; and hiring mental health staff (not as law enforcement substitutes).
- Prohibited uses include funding school police, surveillance tools, arming staff, or partnerships with immigration/law enforcement agencies.
- Up to 2% of funds support technical assistance. Grantees must report outcomes publicly, including data on discipline incidents and student progress.
- Joint Task Force on School Pushout of Girls of Color (Section 6): The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services (HHS) co-chair a 21-member task force (plus advisors from Justice and Indian Education), including students (with representation from Black, Brown, and Indigenous girls), educators, parents, school officials, civil rights experts, mental health professionals, and researchers—no law enforcement. Appointed via competitive process emphasizing diversity, the task force studies causes of discipline disparities (e.g., adultification bias treating children as adults prematurely), best practices, accountability for schools, and links to criminalization of vulnerable groups (e.g., LGBTQI+ students, those experiencing homelessness). It develops recommendations, with reports to Congress every two years, publicly available and accessible.
- Funding (Section 7): Authorizes $500 million annually for grants and the task force, plus $500 million for civil rights data collection.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
- Builds on the Department of Education Organization Act by expanding mandatory, disaggregated data collection beyond current civil rights reporting, adding specifics like grooming policy violations, threat assessments, and intersections of identities (e.g., race and disability).
- Introduces new federal grants with strict prohibitions on certain discipline practices, which go further than existing laws like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, ensuring education for students with disabilities) or Rehabilitation Act Section 504 (protecting against disability discrimination) by mandating trauma-informed alternatives and banning restraints/seclusion in grant-funded schools.
- Creates a novel interagency task force focused on girls of color, absent in prior education laws, and explicitly excludes law enforcement from its composition, contrasting with some state-level school safety policies.
- No direct amendments to core laws like the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, but enhances enforcement through data and funding incentives.
Potential Impacts
- On Government Agencies: Increases workload for the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (data/reporting) and requires coordination with HHS; provides new funding streams but mandates public transparency and privacy compliance, potentially straining smaller districts without grants.
- On Citizens (Students and Families): Could reduce discriminatory removals, lost learning time, and school-to-prison pipeline risks (where discipline leads to arrests), benefiting marginalized students by promoting equitable, supportive environments; families gain access to reports and culturally responsive programs, though implementation varies by grant uptake.
- On Schools and Educators: Encourages shift from punitive to restorative discipline, improving climates but requiring training investments; prohibitions may limit options for minor infractions, potentially affecting classroom management.
- International Relations: Minimal direct impact, though data on Tribal students could support U.S. obligations under treaties with Indian Tribes; no immigration ties, as grants prohibit such partnerships.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- Students: Primarily girls of color, Black/Brown/Indigenous youth, LGBTQI+ individuals, students with disabilities, English learners, those in foster care/homelessness, and pregnant/parenting teens—targeted to reduce pushout (forced school exit) and criminalization.
- Educators and School Officials: LEAs, teachers, principals, and counselors must adopt new policies/training; mental health hires expand support roles.
- Families and Communities: Parents, guardians, and civil rights/nonprofit groups involved in policy development and task force; benefits from equitable discipline and public data.
- Federal/State Agencies: Departments of Education/HHS (task force, grants), Office for Civil Rights (data), and Bureau of Indian Education (inclusion in grants/advisory roles).
- Nonprofits and Researchers: Eligible for grants; contribute to studies and interventions.
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications
- Legal: Strengthens civil rights enforcement under Title VI (prohibiting race discrimination in federally funded programs) and Title IX (sex discrimination, including gender identity/orientation) by mandating disparity identification and remedies; aligns with FERPA privacy rules but could invite lawsuits if data reveals non-compliance. Grant prohibitions on restraints echo Keeping All Students Safe Act proposals, potentially setting national standards while respecting state authority over education.
- Constitutional: Supports equal protection (14th Amendment) by addressing bias in discipline, without infringing free speech (e.g., vulgarity bans limited); avoids due process issues by focusing on alternatives rather than mandating across all schools.
- Political: May spark debate on balancing school safety with equity—critics could argue it weakens discipline for safety, while supporters see it as advancing racial/ gender justice; task force's exclusion of law enforcement highlights tensions in school policing post-events like Parkland, positioning the bill as progressive reform amid ongoing discussions on the school-to-prison pipeline.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Recent Actions
- 2025-04-08: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- 2025-04-08: Introduced in Senate
Bill Versions
- Ending Punitive, Unfair, School-based Harm that is Overt and Unresponsive to Trauma Act of 2025 — issued 2025-04-08 — PDF (33 pages)