I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1199 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to address 

and take action to prevent bullying and harassment of students. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2013 

Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California (for herself, Ms. BASS, Ms. BORDALLO, 

Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, 

Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. 

CLARKE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mrs. 

DAVIS of California, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. AL

GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HANNA, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HIMES, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. 

EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. 

LOWENTHAL, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, 

Mr. MATHESON, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, 

Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. MORAN, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEAL, 

Ms. NORTON, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. POCAN, Mr. POLIS, Mr. PRICE

of North Carolina, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. SCHIFF, 

Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. SIRES, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SMITH of 

Washington, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. TITUS, Mr. 

TONKO, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, 

and Mr. YARMUTH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to address and take action to prevent bullying 

and harassment of students. 


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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 ‘‘Safe Schools Improve5 ment Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Bullying and harassment foster a climate of 

9 fear and disrespect that can seriously impair the 

10 physical and psychological health of its victims and 

11 create conditions that negatively affect learning, 

12 thereby undermining the ability of students to 

13 achieve their full potential. 

14 (2) Bullying and harassment contribute to high 

15 dropout rates, increased absenteeism, and academic 

16 underachievement. 

17 (3) Bullying and harassment include a range of 

18 behaviors that negatively impact a student’s ability 

19 to learn and participate in educational opportunities 

20 and activities that schools offer. Such behaviors can 

21 include hitting or punching, name-calling, intimida22 tion through gestures or social exclusion, and send23 ing insulting or offensive messages through elec24 tronic communications, such as internet sites, eVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:09 Mar 22, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1199.IH H1199

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1 mail, instant messaging, mobile phones and mes2 saging, telephone, or any other means. 

3 (4) Schools with enumerated anti-bullying and 

4 harassment policies have an increased level of re5 porting and teacher intervention in incidents of bul6 lying and harassment, thereby reducing the overall 

7 frequency and number of such incidents. 

8 (5) Students have been particularly singled out 

9 for bullying and harassment on the basis of their ac10 tual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, 

11 disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, 

12 or religion, among other categories. 

13 (6) Some young people experience a form of 

14 bullying called relational aggression or psychological 

15 bullying, which harms individuals by damaging, 

16 threatening, or manipulating their relationships with 

17 their peers, or by injuring their feelings of social ac18 ceptance. 

19 (7) Interventions to address bullying and har20 assment conduct to create a positive and safe school 

21 climate, combined with evidence-based discipline 

22 policies and practices, such as Positive Behavior 

23 Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and restorative 

24 practices, can minimize suspensions, expulsions, and 

25 other exclusionary discipline policies to ensure that 


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1 students are not ‘‘pushed-out’’ or diverted to the ju2 venile justice system. 

3 (8) According to one poll, 85 percent of Ameri4 cans strongly support or somewhat support a Fed5 eral law to require schools to enforce specific rules 

6 to prevent bullying. 

7 (9) Students, parents, educators, and policy8 makers have come together to call for leadership and 

9 action to address the national crisis of bullying and 

10 harassment. 

11 SEC. 3. SAFE SCHOOLS IMPROVEMENT. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Elementary and 

13 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et 

14 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘PART D—SAFE SCHOOLS IMPROVEMENT 

16 ‘‘SEC. 4401. PURPOSE. 

17 ‘‘The purpose of this part is to address the problem 

18 of bullying and harassment conduct of students in public 

19 elementary schools and secondary schools. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 4402. ANTI-BULLYING POLICIES. 

21 ‘‘(a) BULLYING.—In this part, the term ‘bullying’ in22 cludes cyber-bullying through electronic communications. 

23 ‘‘(b) POLICIES.—A State that receives a grant under 

24 this title shall require all local educational agencies in the 

25 State to carry out the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) Establish policies that prevent and prohibit 

2 conduct, including bullying and harassment, that is 

3 sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive— 

4 ‘‘(A) to limit a student’s ability to partici5 pate in, or benefit from, a program or activity 

6 of a public school or local educational agency; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(B) to create a hostile or abusive edu9 cational environment, adversely affecting a stu10 dent’s education, at a program or activity of a 

11 public school or local educational agency, in12 cluding acts of verbal, nonverbal, or physical 

13 aggression or intimidation. 

14 ‘‘(2) The policies required under paragraph (1) 

15 shall include a prohibition of bullying or harassment 

16 conduct based on— 

17 ‘‘(A) a student’s actual or perceived race, 

18 color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual ori19 entation, gender identity, or religion; 

20 ‘‘(B) the actual or perceived race, color, 

21 national origin, sex, disability, sexual orienta22 tion, gender identity, or religion of a person 

23 with whom a student associates or has associ24 ated; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) any other distinguishing characteris2 tics that may be defined by the State or local 

3 educational agency, including being homeless or 

4 the child or ward of a member of the Armed 

5 Forces. 

6 ‘‘(3) Provide— 

7 ‘‘(A) annual notice to students, parents, 

8 and educational professionals describing the full 

9 range of prohibited conduct contained in such 

10 local educational agency’s discipline policies; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(B) grievance procedures for students or 

13 parents to register complaints regarding the 

14 prohibited conduct contained in such local edu15 cational agency’s discipline policies, including— 

16 ‘‘(i) the name of the local educational 

17 agency officials who are designated as re18 sponsible for receiving such complaints; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(ii) timelines that the local edu21 cational agency will establish in the resolu22 tion of such complaints. 

23 ‘‘(4) Collect annual incidence and frequency of 

24 incidents data about the conduct prohibited by the 

25 policies described in paragraph (1) at the school 


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1 building level that are accurate and complete and 

2 publicly report such data at the school level and 

3 local educational agency level. The local educational 

4 agency shall ensure that victims or persons respon5 sible for such conduct are not identifiable. 

6 ‘‘(5) Encourage positive and preventative ap7 proaches to school discipline that minimize students’ 

8 removal from instruction and ensure that students, 

9 including students described in paragraph (2), are 

10 not subject to disproportionate punishment. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 4403. STATE REPORTS. 

12 ‘‘The chief executive officer of a State that receives 

13 a grant under this title, in cooperation with the State edu14 cational agency, shall submit a biennial report to the Sec15 retary— 

16 ‘‘(1) on the information reported by local edu17 cational agencies in the State pursuant to section 

18 4402(b)(5); and 

19 ‘‘(2) describing the State’s plans for supporting 

20 local educational agency efforts to address the con21 duct prohibited by the policies described in section 

22 4402(b)(1). 

23 ‘‘SEC. 4404. EVALUATION. 

24 ‘‘(a) BIENNIAL EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 

25 conduct an independent biennial evaluation of programs 


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1 and policies to combat bullying and harassment in elemen2 tary schools and secondary schools, including implementa3 tion of the requirements described in section 4402, includ4 ing whether such requirements have appreciably reduced 

5 the level of the prohibited conduct and have conducted ef6 fective parent involvement and training programs. 

7 ‘‘(b) DATA COLLECTION.—The Commissioner for 

8 Education Statistics shall collect data from States, that 

9 are subject to independent review, to determine the inci10 dence and frequency of conduct prohibited by the policies 

11 described in section 4402. 

12 ‘‘(c) BIENNIAL REPORT.—Not later than January 1, 

13 2015, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall 

14 submit to the President and Congress a report on the find15 ings of the evaluation conducted under subsection (a) to16 gether with the data collected under subsection (b) and 

17 data submitted by the States under section 4403. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 4405. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

19 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL AND STATE NONDISCRIMINATION

20 LAWS.—Nothing in this part shall be construed to invali21 date or limit rights, remedies, procedures, or legal stand22 ards available to victims of discrimination under any other 

23 Federal law or law of a State or political subdivision of 

24 a State, including title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

25 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education 


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1 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 

2 504 or 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

3 794, 794a), or the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 

4 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). The obligations imposed by this 

5 part are in addition to those imposed by title VI of the 

6 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title 

7 IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 

8 1681 et seq.), section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

9 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), and the Americans with Disabil10 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 

11 ‘‘(b) FREE SPEECH AND EXPRESSION LAWS.—Noth12 ing in this part shall be construed to alter legal standards 

13 regarding, or affect the rights (including remedies and 

14 procedures) available to individuals under, other Federal 

15 laws that establish protections for freedom of speech or 

16 expression. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 4406. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

18 ‘‘Nothing in this part shall be construed to prohibit 

19 a State or local entity from enacting any law with respect 

20 to the prevention of bullying or harassment of students 

21 that is not inconsistent with this part.’’. 

22 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 

23 section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

24 of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item relating 

25 to section 4304 the following: 

‘‘PART D—SAFE SCHOOLS IMPROVEMENT


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‘‘Sec. 4401. Purpose. 

‘‘Sec. 4402. Anti-bullying policies. 

‘‘Sec. 4403. State reports. 

‘‘Sec. 4404. Evaluation. 

‘‘Sec. 4405. Effect on other laws. 

‘‘Sec. 4406. Rule of construction.’’. 

Æ 


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