II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3214 

To divert Federal funding away from supporting the presence of police in 

schools and toward evidence-based and trauma informed services that 

address the needs of marginalized students and improve academic outcomes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 2, 2023 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. 

MARKEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To divert Federal funding away from supporting the presence 

of police in schools and toward evidence-based and trauma informed services that address the needs of 

marginalized students and improve academic outcomes, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Counseling Not Crim5 inalization in Schools Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Over the last 50 years, our Nation’s schools 

4 have become sites for increased criminalization and 

5 surveillance of young people, particularly Black, Na6 tive American, and Latino students, immigrant stu7 dents, students with disabilities, LGBTQI+ stu8 dents, students experiencing homelessness, students 

9 involved in the foster care system, and other histori10 cally marginalized students. 

11 (2) Despite significant decreases in the rate of 

12 serious crimes and violence on school campuses over 

13 the past 20 years, improving upon already low rates, 

14 55 percent of high school students, 38 percent of 

15 middle school students, and 18 percent of elemen16 tary school students attended a school with a police 

17 officer during the 2017–2018 school year. 

18 (3) Since 1999, the Federal Government has in19 vested more than $1,000,000,000 to subsidize the 

20 placement of police in schools, resulting in more 

21 than 50,000 law enforcement officers patrolling the 

22 halls of elementary and secondary public schools 

23 across the Nation. 

24 (4) A growing body of research has not found 

25 any evidence that police stationed on school cam26 puses make schools safer, and the presence of police 


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1 has been shown to increase the likelihood that chil2 dren will be arrested. 

3 (5) Research has shown that schools with a des4 ignated law enforcement officer on duty arrested 

5 students at 5 times the rate of comparable schools 

6 without such an officer. 

7 (6) When police are present in schools, students 

8 of color face an increased risk of being assaulted by 

9 police. Student-recorded videos of police violence in 

10 schools regularly circulate through news channels, 

11 articles, and social media, exposing violence per12 petrated by police within schoolhouse gates. Between 

13 2011 and 2021, news reports detailed at least 285 

14 police assaults of students. 

15 (7) Black, Native American, and Latino stu16 dents are more likely than their White peers to at17 tend schools with police officers on campus and are 

18 more likely to be referred to law enforcement or ar19 rested while in school. 

20 (8) Black students represent 31 percent of all 

21 school-related arrests, despite making up only 15 

22 percent of all public school students. Native Amer23 ican and Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian stu24 dents are more than twice as likely to be arrested as 

25 White students. 


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1 (9) Students with disabilities are more likely 

2 than their peers without disabilities to be referred to 

3 law enforcement or arrested. Students of color with 

4 disabilities are more likely to be referred to law en5 forcement than either their White peers with disabil6 ities, or their peers of color without disabilities. 

7 (10) Students with disabilities are also dis8 proportionately restrained and secluded in schools. 

9 Of the 74,813 students who were physically or me10 chanically restrained during the 2017–2018 school 

11 year, 78 percent received special education services. 

12 Of the 27,499 students who were secluded during 

13 the 2017–2018 school year, 77 percent received spe14 cial education services. According to a 2020 Govern15 ment Accountability Office report, 70 percent of 

16 school districts report zero incidents of restraint and 

17 seclusion, but only 30 of the Nation’s 17,000 school 

18 districts are required to verify the number of inci19 dents of restraint and seclusion, likely resulting in a 

20 significant undercount of these harmful practices. 

21 (11) According to the Department of Edu22 cation, while Black girls comprise only 16 percent of 

23 girls in elementary and secondary schools, they make 

24 up 42 percent of girls receiving the most severe 

25 forms of school discipline and severe punishment, 


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1 such as corporal punishment, and represent 34 per2 cent of girls arrested on campus. In the 2017–2018 

3 school year, Black girls were 4 times more likely 

4 than White girls to be suspended or expelled. Black 

5 girls were also 3 times more likely to be referred to 

6 law enforcement and over 3 times more likely to be 

7 arrested in school. 

8 (12) Research shows that these racial dispari9 ties in discipline rates are not a result of differences 

10 in student behavior, but instead reflect the ways in 

11 which students of color face more punitive discipline 

12 than their White peers for similar behavior. 

13 (13) Students who are LGBTQI+ often have 

14 intersecting marginalized identities and experience 

15 exclusionary discipline at disproportionate rates that 

16 make it more likely they will interact with the juve17 nile justice system than their non-LGBTQI+ peers. 

18 A survey of juvenile justice facilities found 40 per19 cent of girls and 20 percent of all detained youth 

20 identified as LGBTQI+, and the overwhelming ma21 jority (85 percent) of LGBTQI+ detained youth 

22 were youth of color. 

23 (14) Students who are suspended or expelled 

24 are nearly 3 times more likely to be in contact with 

25 the juvenile justice system the following year. 


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1 (15) According to the Federal Bureau of Inves2 tigation, more than 30,000 children under the age of 

3 10 were arrested since 2013. On school campuses, 

4 more than 290,000 students were referred to law en5 forcement. The United States spends $240 daily, on 

6 average, per youth detained in juvenile facilities. 

7 (16) While schools should be sanctuaries for all 

8 students, reports have shown instances where police 

9 in schools collect tips and disciplinary information 

10 from teachers and school administrators and share 

11 it with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 

12 agents to build deportation cases against students 

13 and their families. 

14 (17) School hardening, including the presence 

15 of law enforcement officers on campus, causes stu16 dents to experience higher levels of fear, perpetuates 

17 the school to prison pipeline, and undermines the 

18 ability of schools and educators to build learning en19 vironments based on mutual trust, respect, and safe20 ty. 

21 (18) Ninety percent of students are in public 

22 schools where the number of counselors, social work23 ers, nurses, and psychologists do not meet rec24 ommended professional standards. Professional 

25 standards recommend at least 1 counselor and 1 soVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:12 Nov 05, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3214.IS S3214

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1 cial worker for every 250 students and at least 1 

2 nurse and 1 psychologist for every 750 students and 

3 every 700 students, respectively. 

4 (19) 1,700,000 students attend schools with po5 lice but not 1 counselor. 

6 (20) 3,000,000 students attend schools with po7 lice but not 1 school nurse. 

8 (21) 6,000,000 students attend schools with po9 lice but not 1 school psychologist. 

10 (22) 10,000,000 students attend schools with 

11 police but not 1 social worker. 

12 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

13 It is the purpose of this Act to— 

14 (1) address the needs of marginalized students, 

15 ensure schools are welcoming for students, and im16 prove academic outcomes by eliminating Federal 

17 funding for maintaining the presence of covered law 

18 enforcement officers in schools and establishing a 

19 continuum of care and positive schoolwide systems 

20 of services that are evidence-based, inclusive, racially 

21 and gender responsive, and trauma informed; and 

22 (2) support local educational agencies that 

23 choose to terminate their contracts with local law en24 forcement agencies or, where applicable, dissolve or 

25 disband district-based police departments, and invest 


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1 resources in personnel and services that create safe 

2 and inclusive schools for all students based on com3 munity engagement and deliberative consultation. 

4 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 

7 school’’, ‘‘evidence-based’’, ‘‘local educational agen8 cy’’, ‘‘parent’’, ‘‘professional development’’, ‘‘school 

9 leader’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, and ‘‘spe10 cialized instructional support personnel’’ have the 

11 meaning given those terms in section 8101 of the 

12 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

13 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

14 (2) COVERED PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘covered 

15 program’’ means— 

16 (A) all the operations of an elementary 

17 school, a secondary school, or a local edu18 cational agency; or 

19 (B) a program that serves children who re20 ceive services for which financial assistance is 

21 provided in accordance with the Head Start Act 

22 (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.). 

23 (3) CREDIBLE MESSENGER.—The term ‘‘cred24 ible messenger’’ means any individual who serves as 

25 a mentor, is from the same communities in which 


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1 the students and families they serve live, and whose 

2 lived experiences serve as a credential in their work 

3 to provide guidance, empowerment, support, and en4 couragement to students and their families with 

5 whom the credible messenger has shared or similar 

6 experiences. Shared experiences include being a per7 son of color, being directly impacted or having in8 volvement in the legal system, having involvement in 

9 the child welfare system, being directly impacted by 

10 exclusionary school discipline and policing in schools, 

11 having experienced housing instability, having a dis12 ability, or identifying as LGBTQI+. 

13 (4) POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS

14 AND SUPPORTS.—The term ‘‘positive behavioral 

15 interventions and supports’’ means— 

16 (A) a schoolwide, systematic approach that 

17 embeds evidence-based practices and data-driv18 en decisionmaking to improve school climate 

19 and culture in order to achieve improved aca20 demic and social outcomes and increase learn21 ing for all students (including students with the 

22 most complex and intensive behavioral needs); 

23 and 

24 (B) encompasses a range of systemic and 

25 individualized positive strategies to teach and 


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1 reinforce school-expected behaviors, while dis2 couraging and diminishing undesirable behav3 iors. 

4 (5) COVERED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.— 

5 The term ‘‘covered law enforcement officer’’— 

6 (A) means any person who— 

7 (i) is a State, Tribal, or local law en8 forcement officer (as defined in section 

9 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

10 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

11 10284)); and 

12 (ii) is assigned by the employing law 

13 enforcement agency to a covered program, 

14 who is contracting with a covered program, 

15 or who is employed by a covered program; 

16 and 

17 (B) includes an individual referred to as a 

18 ‘‘school resource officer’’ if that individual 

19 meets the definition in subparagraph (A). 

20 (6) TRAUMA-INFORMED SERVICES.—The term 

21 ‘‘trauma-informed services’’ means a service delivery 

22 approach that— 

23 (A) recognizes and responds to the impacts 

24 of trauma with evidence-based supports and 

25 intervention; 


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1 (B) emphasizes physical, psychological, and 

2 emotional safety for both providers of services 

3 and survivors of trauma; and 

4 (C) creates opportunities for survivors of 

5 trauma to rebuild a sense of healing and em6 powerment. 

7 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR POLICE IN 

8 SCHOOLS. 

9 (a) FEDERAL FUNDS PROHIBITION.—Notwith10 standing the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 

11 of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.), including subpart 1 

12 of part E of title I of that Act (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) 

13 (relating to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assist14 ance Grant Program) and part Q of title I of that Act 

15 (34 U.S.C. 13081 et seq.) (relating to the ‘‘Cops on the 

16 Beat’’ grant program), or any other provision of law, no 

17 Federal funds may be appropriated or used for hiring, 

18 maintaining, or training covered law enforcement officers 

19 in any capacity. 

20 (b) COPS GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 1701 of title 

21 I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

22 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (b)— 

24 (A) by striking paragraph (12); 


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1 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (13) 

2 through (23) as paragraphs (12) through (22), 

3 respectively; and 

4 (C) in paragraph (21), as so redesignated, 

5 by striking ‘‘through (21)’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘through (20)’’; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(n) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR COVERED

9 LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.—A recipient of a grant 

10 under this part may not use the grant funds for covered 

11 law enforcement officers (as defined in section 4 of the 

12 Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act).’’. 

13 SEC. 6. SUPPORTING LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES IN 

14 TRANSITIONING AWAY FROM POLICE IN 

15 SCHOOLS. 

16 (a) GRANT PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—The Secretary 

17 of Education shall award grants, on a competitive and roll18 ing basis, to local educational agencies to enable those 

19 local educational agencies— 

20 (1) to replace covered law enforcement officers 

21 in elementary and secondary schools with personnel 

22 and services that support mental health and trauma23 informed services; and 

24 (2) to reform school safety and disciplinary 

25 policies so they reflect evidence-based practices that 


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1 do not rely on the criminal justice system and pro2 vide the necessary staff training and support to im3 plement such policies. 

4 (b) APPLICATION.—A local educational agency desir5 ing a grant under this section shall submit an application 

6 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con7 taining such information as the Secretary may require, in8 cluding an assurance that— 

9 (1) the local educational agency will not have 

10 covered law enforcement officers stationed on school 

11 campuses, including by terminating any existing con12 tract with local law enforcement or, where applica13 ble, dissolving school district-based police depart14 ments, at least 30 days prior to the entity receiving 

15 funds under this section; and 

16 (2) the local educational agency will not estab17 lish any new contract with law enforcement or create 

18 its own school police department for the duration of 

19 the grant. 

20 (c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec21 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to— 

22 (1) local educational agencies that terminated 

23 their contract with local law enforcement or dis24 solved their school district-based police department 

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1 ances that the local educational agency will not cre2 ate or restart a contract with State or local law en3 forcement, create or reinstate a school district police 

4 department, or create or restart a program of other 

5 law enforcement or armed school personnel during 

6 the duration of the grant; 

7 (2) local educational agencies with a larger 

8 share of students who are economically disadvan9 taged, in the event that funds are insufficient to 

10 award grants to all eligible applicants; and 

11 (3) local educational agencies that— 

12 (A) identify the uses of funds in subsection 

13 (d) based on meaningful community engage14 ment; and 

15 (B) establish ongoing stakeholder over16 sight, guidance, and coordination of the pro17 posed activities or policies with a broad group 

18 of stakeholders, including any groups of stu19 dents, as well as their families, who have been 

20 disproportionately arrested, suspended, or ex21 pelled, to ensure proposed activities and policies 

22 mitigate disparities in the use of exclusionary 

23 discipline and promote a positive school culture. 

24 (d) USES OF FUNDS.— 


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1 (1) REQUIRED USE.—A local educational agen2 cy receiving funds under this section shall use such 

3 grant funds to hire, maintain, or train school coun4 selors, school psychologists, nurses, social workers, 

5 credible messengers, community health workers and 

6 trauma-informed personnel, dedicated staff specifi7 cally trained in deescalation and violence interrup8 tion practices, staff trained in anti-bias practices, 

9 doctoral level specialists in behavior planning and 

10 intervention, or other specialists or individuals with 

11 expertise in school climate and behavior. 

12 (2) PERMITTED USES.—In addition to the re13 quired use described in paragraph (1), a local edu14 cational agency receiving funds under this section 

15 may also use grant funds to carry out 1 or more of 

16 the following: 

17 (A) Implementing schoolwide positive be18 havioral interventions and supports, restorative 

19 justice programs and interventions, mediators, 

20 social and emotional learning programs, or 

21 other evidence-based trauma-informed services. 

22 (B) Providing ongoing professional devel23 opment to teachers, teacher assistants, school 

24 leaders, counselors, specialized instructional 


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1 support personnel, credible messengers, and 

2 mental health professionals that— 

3 (i) fosters safe, inclusive, and stable 

4 learning environments that support the so5 cial, emotional, mental, and academic well6 being of students and prevent and mitigate 

7 the effects of trauma, including through 

8 social and emotional learning; 

9 (ii) improves school capacity to iden10 tify, refer, and provide services to students 

11 in need of trauma support services; 

12 (iii) reflects the best practices for 

13 trauma-informed identification, referral, 

14 and support developed by the Interagency 

15 Task Force on Trauma-Informed Care; 

16 (iv) reduces the number of students 

17 with disabilities experiencing school dis18 cipline for their disability-related behavior 

19 through specific training on the identifica20 tion, development, and implementation of 

21 Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs); and 

22 (v) reduces the number of Black, 

23 Latino, Native American, and LGBTQI+ 

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1 cipline practices rather than trauma-in2 formed services and supports. 

3 (e) PROHIBITION.—No portion of any grant funds 

4 awarded under this section may be used for— 

5 (1) the development, establishment, implemen6 tation, or enforcement of punitive school discipline 

7 policies, including the commission, contracting of, or 

8 agreements with, law enforcement that support the 

9 presence of police in schools, including formal or in10 formal partnerships or data and information sharing 

11 agreements with the Department of Justice or Sec12 retary of Homeland Security, including U.S. Immi13 gration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Customs 

14 and Border Protection; 

15 (2) the purchase, maintenance, or installation 

16 of surveillance equipment or programs, including 

17 metal detectors, surveillance cameras, facial recogni18 tion technology, or software programs that monitor 

19 or mine the social media use or technology use of 

20 students; or 

21 (3) arming teachers, principals, school leaders, 

22 or other school personnel. 

23 (f) GRANT AMOUNTS.—The amount of grant funds 

24 received under this section by a local educational agency 


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1 shall be based on the number of students enrolled in the 

2 local educational agency. 

3 (g) REPORTING.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each local educational agen5 cy receiving a grant under this section shall prepare 

6 and submit an annual report to the Secretary con7 taining the information described in paragraph (2). 

8 Such report shall be made publicly available. 

9 (2) CONTENTS.—Subject to paragraph (3), the 

10 report described in paragraph (1) shall include infor11 mation about— 

12 (A) how the grant funds were used; 

13 (B) the number and percentage of students 

14 who were arrested by or referred to law enforce15 ment officers in the previous year compared to 

16 the number and percentage arrested or referred 

17 during the term of the grant; 

18 (C) in the aggregate, the reasons for those 

19 arrests; 

20 (D) demographic data of students arrested 

21 or referred to law enforcement officers, 

22 disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race, eth23 nicity, age, gender, status as a child with a dis24 ability, and whether the student is eligible for 

25 a free or reduced price lunch under the Richard 


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1 B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); 

3 (E) the number of metal detectors and 

4 surveillance cameras used by each school served 

5 by the local educational agency, as well as poli6 cies governing the use of these devices; 

7 (F) whether facial recognition technology 

8 is used by the local educational agency, and if 

9 so, the policies governing the use of such tech10 nology; and 

11 (G) whether software programs that mon12 itor or mine the social media use or technology 

13 use of students or the families of students are 

14 used by, or at the direction of, the local edu15 cational agency, and if so, the contract with the 

16 provider of those software programs as well as 

17 the policies governing the use of such programs. 

18 (3) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA19 TION.—Collection or disaggregation of information 

20 shall not be required under subparagraphs (B) 

21 through (D) of paragraph (2) to the extent that 

22 such collection or disaggregation would reveal per23 sonally identifiable information about an individual 

24 student or otherwise violate privacy laws. 


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1 (h) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—A local edu2 cational agency shall use Federal funds received under this 

3 section only to supplement the funds that would, in the 

4 absence of such Federal funds, be made available from 

5 State and local sources for the activities described in sub6 section (d), and not to supplant such funds 

7 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

9 $5,000,000,000. 

Æ 


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