I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4000 
To provide assistance to local educational agencies for the prevention and 
reduction of conflict and violence. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 3, 2009 
Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To provide assistance to local educational agencies for the 
prevention and reduction of conflict and violence. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Conflict Resolution and 
Mediation Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) On Wednesday, October 7, 2009, in a 
speech detailing the violence that our youth face, 
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan noted that, 
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currently, 30 percent of students, or about 
1,200,000 students a year, fail to complete high 
school on time. 
(2) The Division of Violence Prevention within 
the Centers for Disease Control observed that ‘‘vio-
lence diminishes and destroys the quality of life and 
freedom of individuals, families and communities 
. . . young people cannot learn and succeed in life 
if they are afraid to go to school’’. 
(3) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention find that young people are both the victims 
and perpetrators of violence, with homicide being the 
second leading cause of death for young people be-
tween the ages of 10 and 24. 
(4) The U.S. Conference of Mayors states that 
youth violence is a public health crisis and have de-
clared that ‘‘[w]e can’t arrest our way out of this 
problem . . . prevention is the key to long-term suc-
cess’’. 
(5) In 2007, of a nationally representative sam-
ple of students in grades 9 through 12, 4.2 percent 
reported being in a physical fight one or more times 
in the previous 12 months that resulted in injuries 
that had to be treated by a doctor or nurse. 
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(6) In a 2007 nationally representative sample 
of youth in grades 9 through 12 regarding violence- 
related behaviors, the CDC found— 
(A) 12.4 percent reported being in a phys-
ical fight on school property in the 12 months 
preceding the survey, with 16.3 percent of male 
students and 8.5 percent of female students re-
ported being in a physical fight on school prop-
erty in the 12 months preceding the survey; 
(B) 27.1 percent of students reported hav-
ing property stolen or deliberately damaged on 
school property and 5.5 percent did not go to 
school on one or more days in the 30 days pre-
ceding the survey because they felt unsafe at 
school or on their way to or from school; and 
(C) 5.9 percent reported carrying a weapon 
(gun, knife, or club) on school property on one 
or more days in the 30 days preceding the sur-
vey and 7.8 percent reported being threatened 
or injured with a weapon on school property 
one or more times. 
(7) In a 2007 nationally representative sample 
of youth in grades 9 through 12 regarding youth vi-
olence, the CDC found— 
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(A) 35.5 percent reported being in a phys-
ical fight in the 12 months preceding the sur-
vey; the prevalence was higher among males 
(44.4 percent) than females (26.5 percent); and 
(B) 18 percent reported carrying a weapon 
(gun, knife, or club) on one or more days in the 
30 days preceding the survey and 5.2 percent 
carried a gun on one or more days in the 30 
days preceding the survey. 
(8) An estimated 30 percent of 6th to 10th 
graders in the United States were either a bully, a 
target of bullying, or both. 
(9) From 1992 to 1999, perpetrators of school- 
associated homicides were nine times as likely as vic-
tims to have exhibited some form of suicidal behav-
ior before the event, and were more than twice as 
likely as victims to have been bullied by their peers 
and more than half of the incidents over this period 
were preceded by some signal, such as threats, 
notes, or journal entries that indicated the potential 
for the coming event. 
(10) Most of the violent events involving stu-
dents occur during the transition times around the 
start of the school day, the lunch period, and at the 
end of the school day. 
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(11) While rates of school-associated student 
homicides decreased between 1992 and 2006, they 
remained relatively stable in recent years and were 
significantly higher for males, students in secondary 
schools, and students in central cities. 
(12) From 1999 to 2006, most school-associ-
ated homicides included gunshot wounds (65 per-
cent), stabbing or cutting (27 percent), and beating 
(12 percent). 
(13) The CDC estimates that women experience 
4,800,000 Intimate Partner Violence, or domestic- 
related, physical assaults and rapes per year and 
men are the victims of about 2,900,000 IPV-related 
physical assaults annually. 
(14) Children who bear the burden of wit-
nessing violent acts, whether at home, in school, or 
in their communities must be taught coping mecha-
nisms before they are desensitized to violence and 
violent acts. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 
assistance to local educational agencies for the prevention 
and reduction of conflict and violence in schools through-
out the country. 
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SEC. 3. CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND MEDIATION PROGRAM 
AUTHORIZED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education is au-
thorized to make grants to local educational agencies to 
provide assistance to schools served by the agency that are 
most directly affected by conflict and violence. 
(b) MODEL PROJECT.—The Secretary shall develop 
a written model for conflict resolution and mediation writ-
ten within 90 days and make such model available to any 
local educational agency that requests such information. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for fiscal 
year 2010 and such sums as may be necessary for each 
of the fiscal years 2011 through 2015 to carry out the 
projects under this Act. 
SEC. 4. USE OF FUNDS. 
Grants made by the Secretary under this Act shall 
be used to develop programs for conflict resolution and 
mediation for students, teachers, and other personnel in 
regular contact with students at school. 
SEC. 5. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to be eligible to receive 
a grant under this Act for any fiscal year, a local edu-
cational agency shall submit an application to the Sec-
retary in such form and containing such information as 
the Secretary may reasonably require. 
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(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Each application under sub-
section (a) shall include— 
(1) a request for funds for the purposes de-
scribed in section 2(b); 
(2) information about the schools and commu-
nities to be served by the grant, including the nature 
of the conflict and violence problems within and 
around the schools; 
(3) statistical information in such form and 
containing such information that the Secretary may 
require regarding conflict and violence within such 
schools and surrounding communities; and 
(4) assurances that Federal funds received 
under this Act shall be used to supplement, not sup-
plant, non-Federal funds that would otherwise be 
available for activities funded under this Act. 
(c) COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.—Each application shall 
include a comprehensive plan that shall contain— 
(1) a description of the conflict and violence 
problems within the schools served by the local edu-
cational agency and surrounding community tar-
geted for assistance; 
(2) a description of the resources available in 
the community to help implement the plan together 
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with a description of the areas in the plan that can-
not be filled with existing resources; and 
(3) a description of the system the applicant 
will establish to prevent and reduce ongoing conflict 
and violence problems. 
SEC. 6. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS; LIMITATIONS ON GRANTS. 
(a) ADMINISTRATIVE COST LIMITATION.—The Sec-
retary shall use not more than 5 percent of the funds 
available under this Act for the purposes of administration 
and technical assistance. 
(b) RENEWAL OF GRANTS.—A grant under this Act 
may be renewed for not more than 2 additional years after 
the first fiscal year during which the recipient receives an 
initial grant under this Act, subject to the availability of 
funds, if— 
(1) the Secretary determines that the funds 
made available to the recipient during the previous 
year were used in a manner required under the ap-
proved application; and 
(2) the Secretary determines that an additional 
grant is necessary to implement the violence preven-
tion program described in the comprehensive plan as 
required by section 5(c). 
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SEC. 7. AWARD OF GRANTS. 
(a) SELECTION
OF RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary 
shall consider the following factors in awarding grants to 
local educational agencies: 
(1) CONFLICT AND VIOLENCE PROBLEM.—The 
nature and scope of the violence problem in the tar-
geted schools. 
(2) NEED AND ABILITY.—Demonstrated need 
and evidence of the ability to provide the services de-
scribed in the plan required under section 5(c). 
(3) POPULATION.—The number of students to 
be served by the plan required under section 5(c). 
(b) GEOGRAPHIC
DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary 
shall attempt, to the extent practicable, to achieve an equi-
table geographic distribution of grant awards. 
SEC. 8. REPORTS. 
(a) REPORTS.—Local educational agencies that re-
ceive funds under this Act shall submit to the Secretary 
a detailed report not later than March 1 of each year that 
describes progress achieved in carrying out the plan re-
quired under section 5(c). 
(b) REPORT
TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 
submit to the Congress a report by October 1 of each year 
in which grants are made available under this Act which 
shall contain a detailed statement regarding grant awards, 
activities of grant recipients, a compilation of statistical 
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information submitted by applicants under section 
5(b)(3), and an evaluation of programs established under 
this Act. 
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 
For the purpose of this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has 
the meaning given such term in section 9101 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 7801). 
(2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of Education. 
Æ 
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