Sponsors
The bill seeks to strengthen student protections from sexual abuse through clearer obligations, statewide codes, training, and a federal study—trading increased safety and data-driven policy guidance against added costs, administrative burdens, and reduced local flexibility.
Students (K–12) will be better protected from sexual abuse because the bill reinforces Title IX responsibilities, requires statewide codes of conduct, funds staff training, and mandates a federal study to inform prevention.
Teachers and school staff will have clearer reporting obligations and access to training/resources, improving preparedness and timely reporting of suspected abuse.
A federally mandated study and one-year report will give school administrators and Congress evidence-based recommendations and data to target prevention and oversight efforts.
School districts and taxpayers may face significant new costs to develop, administer, and maintain required statewide policies, training, monitoring, and data collection—especially burdensome for small or under-resourced districts.
Mandated statewide codes and stronger federal expectations could reduce state and local flexibility to tailor prevention and response policies to local community needs and increase administrative burden.
New compliance requirements raise the risk of litigation and disputes over definitions of misconduct and reporting obligations, which could increase legal exposure and administrative costs for schools and staff.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Requires states to require school districts to adopt codes of conduct and staff training to prevent K–12 sexual abuse, permits use of ESEA funds for training, and mandates a DOE study.
Introduced August 29, 2025 by Ted Lieu · Last progress August 29, 2025
Requires each state that gets federal K–12 education funds to have a statewide policy forcing school districts to adopt codes of conduct and provide training to prevent sexual abuse of elementary and secondary students. Allows existing federal K–12 formula funds to be used for that training and directs the Department of Education to study and report on the incidence of student sexual abuse by other students and by school personnel, with recommendations for prevention.