Summary

Requires the Department of Education to collect detailed, race- and subgroup-disaggregated data on suspensions, expulsions, law enforcement referrals, arrests, and other exclusionary discipline across public schools; creates a competitive grant program to fund alternatives to punitive discipline and bans many punitive practices in grantee schools; and forms a federal Task Force to research and recommend ways to stop the school "pushout" of girls of color. It also authorizes large annual funds for the expanded data work, grants, and the Task Force.

Key Points

• Expands federal data collection on exclusionary discipline and requires detailed, subgroup-disaggregated public reports.
• Creates competitive grants to replace punitive discipline with evidence-based alternatives and mental-health supports.
• Sets statutory definitions for many discipline-related terms and aligns them with existing federal law.
• Prohibits grant-funded hiring of school-based law enforcement, surveillance purchases, corporal punishment, seclusion, and many restraints in grantee schools.
• Creates a joint Department of Education–HHS Task Force to study and recommend ways to end pushout of girls of color, with reports due within 360 days and biennially.
• Requires public reporting of grant evaluations and grantee outcomes with privacy protections.
• Authorizes $500M/year for grants/Task Force activities and $500M/year for OCR data work (authorization only).
• Identifies and requires public naming of schools/LEAs/States that show patterns of discriminatory or excessive exclusionary discipline (subject to privacy rules).

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