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December 16, 2010

Dear Colleagues:

Recent incidents of bullying have demonstrated its  potentially devastating effects on students, schools, and communities and have  spurred a sense of urgency among State and local educators and policymakers to  take action to combat bullying.  The U.S.  Department of Education (Department) shares this sense of urgency and is taking  steps to help school officials effectively reduce bullying in our Nation’s  schools. Bullying can be extremely damaging to students, can disrupt an environment conducive to learning, and  should not be tolerated in our schools.

Along with our partners from the Departments of Health and Human  Services, Agriculture, Interior, Defense, and Justice, we are in the process of  developing key strategies to support and encourage efforts to prevent bullying  in our schools.  Our ongoing work has  included the first-ever Federal Bullying Prevention Summit in August, the  launch of our interagency bullying-resource Web site, http://www.bullyinginfo.org, the  continued support and growth of the Stop Bullying Now! campaign, and the  development of research and guidance on bullying prevention.  The Department also awarded eleven Safe and  Supportive Schools Grants to states to develop measurement systems to assess  schools’ conditions for learning, including the prevalence of bullying, and to  implement programs to improve overall school safety.

Recent guidance includes a Dear Colleague Letter issued on October  26 by the Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that explains how, under  certain circumstances, bullying may trigger legal responsibilities for schools under  the civil rights laws enforced by OCR and the Department of Justice that  prohibit discrimination and harassment based on race, color, national origin,  sex, disability, and religion.1Schools must protect students from bullying  and harassment on these bases, in addition to any obligations under state and  local law.

Numerous stakeholders, including the National Conference of  State Legislatures, the National Association of School Boards, the Leadership  Conference on Civil and Human Rights, individual State legislators, and local  school districts, among others, have asked the Department to provide assistance  in crafting effective anti-bullying laws and policies.  In response, the Department has prepared the  attached summary of examples that illustrate how some states have tried to  prevent and reduce bullying through legislation.  States and local school districts can use these  examples as technical assistance in drafting effective anti-bullying laws,  regulations, and policies.  The  Department will also be working to produce additional helpful resource  information.

Forty-five states have already passed laws addressing bullying  or harassment in school. Ultimately  State officials will determine whether new or revised legislation and policies should  be introduced to update, improve, or add bullying prevention provisions.  It is our hope that this information will be  of assistance to State officials and other interested stakeholders.

Though laws are only a part of the cure for bullying, the  adoption, publication, and enforcement of a clear and effective anti-bullying  policy sends a message that all incidents of bullying must be addressed  immediately and effectively, and that such behavior will not be tolerated.  State laws, and their related district- and  school-level policies, cannot work in isolation, however.  When responding to bullying incidents,  schools and districts should remember that maintenance of a safe and equitable  learning environment for all students, including both victims and perpetrators  of bullying, often requires a more comprehensive approach.

If you wish to receive further technical assistance on  addressing bullying, please do not hesitate to contact the Department’s Office  of Safe and Drug-Free Schools by visiting its Web site at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osdfs/index.html or by calling at 202-245-7896.

I look forward to continuing our work together to ensure  equal access to education and to promote safe and respectful schools for all of  our students.



| | Sincerely, 
| | -----------
| | /s/        
| | Arne Duncan

Enclosure download filesMS Word (100 K)

1The Federal civil rights laws enforced by the Department include Title VI of  the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of  race, color, or national origin; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972,  which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex; and Section 504 of the  Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act  of 1990, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability.  OCR’s Dear Colleague letter on discriminatory harassment  under these statutes is available at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201010.html.  The Department of Justice has  jurisdiction to enforce Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which  prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, or  national origin.