Sponsors (22)
Official title: To prohibit the use of corporal punishment in schools, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 8, 2025 by Suzanne Bonamici · Last progress May 8, 2025
The bill would sharply reduce corporal punishment and promote non‑exclusionary, evidence‑based discipline with enforcement and transparency, improving safety and equity for many students but imposing meaningful costs, administrative burdens, potential privacy risks, uneven coverage for some settings, and new litigation and enforcement trade‑offs for schools and districts.
Students in federally funded schools nationwide (including many state, local, DoD, and Interior-funded schools) are explicitly protected from corporal punishment and physical discipline by staff, officers, or security guards.
Students (especially those from historically disciplined groups) will face fewer exclusionary discipline actions because the bill promotes evidence-based alternatives (PBIS, restorative justice, trauma‑informed care) and funds training/technical assistance for school staff.
Stronger enforcement and remedies: families can pursue private lawsuits (fees, damages, injunctive relief), Protection & Advocacy systems get notice and investigatory authority for disability-related incidents, the Department of Education can investigate/withhold funds, and the Attorney General may sue on behalf of minors — creating multiple compliance and accountability pathways.
Schools, local education agencies, and states will face significant new costs for training, program implementation, data systems, reporting, and personnel time, which may require reallocating limited school resources or raising local expenditures.
Noncompliant states or programs risk withholding of federal education funds or temporary loss of program funding, which could disrupt services and educational continuity for students while deficiencies are cured.
The Act creates uneven coverage and potential loopholes: private schools without federal support, homeschoolers, and some external officers/contracted law-enforcement/security personnel may fall outside protections or personnel rules, leaving some students less protected depending on school type or officer status.
Based on analysis of 10 sections of legislative text.
Bans corporal punishment in federally funded schools/programs, requires positive discipline models, training, reporting, and creates enforcement remedies.
Prohibits corporal punishment in any school or early‑childhood program that receives federal funds, creates enforcement tools and private rights of action, and requires states and local education agencies to adopt positive behavioral and other non‑aversive discipline models, train personnel, and report on school climate. The Department of Education must issue implementing regulations within 180 days, and the bill includes notification, data collection, and compliance mechanisms (including withholding funds) while excluding purely private and home schools.