S986119th CongressWALLET

Safe Schools Improvement Act

Sponsored By: Senator Timothy Kaine

Introduced

Summary

Requires public schools to adopt comprehensive anti-bullying policies that explicitly protect students by race, color, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics), disability, and religion. It would also require schools to give annual notice, offer grievance procedures, collect school-level data, and submit information for federal review and evaluation.

Show full summary
  • Students and families: Schools would have to provide annual notice of prohibited conduct and grievance procedures so students and parents can report bullying and get timelines and contact names for complaints.
  • Local educational agencies and schools: LEAs must implement anti-bullying policies that bar conduct that limits access to programs or creates a hostile environment and that protect association-based characteristics. LEAs must publicly report annual incidence data at the school level while keeping victims and alleged perpetrators anonymous.
  • States: Chief state executives would submit biennial reports to the Secretary containing LEA data and plans for supporting local anti-bullying efforts.
  • Federal agencies: The Department of Education would carry out an independent biennial evaluation and report to the President and Congress beginning January 1, 2026. The National Center for Education Statistics would collect state data on the incidence and frequency of the prohibited conduct.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

New anti-bullying rules for schools

If enacted, states that get Title IV grants would have to make local school districts adopt anti-bullying policies. The rules must define bullying as conduct that puts a student in fear and that harms school participation. Policies would prohibit harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), disability, religion, and people a student associates with. Schools would have to give annual notice, keep grievance procedures with named officials and timelines, and collect school-level data while protecting student identities.

Protecting civil rights and speech

If enacted, the new Part G would not replace or limit existing federal or state civil-rights laws. It would say the Part does not change legal standards for freedom of speech or expression. Victims and people asserting speech rights would keep current remedies and procedures.

Federal reviews of school bullying

If enacted, the Secretary of Education would do an independent evaluation of anti-bullying programs every two years. The Commissioner for Education Statistics would collect state-supplied data on bullying incidence and frequency for that review. The first report to the President and Congress would be due by January 1, 2026, and then every two years.

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Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Timothy Kaine

VA • D

Cosponsors

  • Tammy Baldwin

    WI • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Michael Bennet

    CO • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Richard Blumenthal

    CT • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Cory Booker

    NJ • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Christopher Coons

    DE • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Catherine Cortez Masto

    NV • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Tammy Duckworth

    IL • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Richard Durbin

    IL • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • John Fetterman

    PA • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • John Hickenlooper

    CO • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Mazie Hirono

    HI • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Amy Klobuchar

    MN • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Edward Markey

    MA • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Jeff Merkley

    OR • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Patty Murray

    WA • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Alex Padilla

    CA • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Gary Peters

    MI • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Jacky Rosen

    NV • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Bernie Sanders

    VT • I

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Jeanne Shaheen

    NH • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Tina Smith

    MN • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Mark Warner

    VA • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Elizabeth Warren

    MA • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Peter Welch

    VT • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Ron Wyden

    OR • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Christopher Murphy

    CT • D

    Sponsored 3/12/2025

  • Maria Cantwell

    WA • D

    Sponsored 3/13/2025

  • Martin Heinrich

    NM • D

    Sponsored 3/24/2025

  • Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM]

    NM • D

    Sponsored 10/23/2025

  • Andy Kim

    NJ • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Lisa Blunt Rochester

    DE • D

    Sponsored 11/19/2025

  • Adam Schiff

    CA • D

    Sponsored 1/12/2026

  • John Reed

    RI • D

    Sponsored 1/12/2026

  • Elissa Slotkin

    MI • D

    Sponsored 1/28/2026

  • Chris Van Hollen

    MD • D

    Sponsored 2/10/2026

  • Mark Kelly

    AZ • D

    Sponsored 2/10/2026

  • Angela Alsobrooks

    MD • D

    Sponsored 3/2/2026

  • Sheldon Whitehouse

    RI • D

    Sponsored 3/4/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov

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