North Cook News

WASHINGTON – On August 29, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi and Congresswoman Jenniffer González-Colón announced the reintroduction of the State Taskforce Opportunity Program (“STOP”) Bullying Act. The STOP Bullying Act incentivizes the establishment of statewide anti-bullying task forces to study, address, and reduce bullying in primary and secondary schools, with attention to  the pervasive bullying of LGBTQI+ students.

“Every child deserves a healthy environment to learn and grow in the classroom and in their social environment. The presence of bullying  in K-12 schools across our country increases student-exposure to adverse childhood experiences, which contribute to not only unsatisfactory educational outcomes, but also to poor mental health outcomes across the lifespan.,” said Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi. “The STOP Bullying Act addresses hostile school environments by building on successful state-level initiatives and establishing a new grant program to incentivize and fund state taskforces combating bullying by working with communities to make schools safer for all children, regardless of their actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion.”

“Guaranteeing a safe environment in our schools is critical to our students’ learning process, especially during their formative years,” said Rep. Jenniffer González-Colón. “I am pleased to once again join my colleague Raja Krishnamoorthi to reintroduce the STOP Bullying Act, bipartisan legislation to create a federal grant program through the Department of Education to support the establishment of statewide anti-bullying task forces. These can serve as an important tool to bring together parents, educators, and communities to ensure our state and local educational agencies study and adopt the most effective policies to address and reduce bullying and harassment across our elementary and secondary schools.”

Specifically, the STOP Bullying Act:

•    Establishes a federal grant program through the Department of Education that would award grants to states to establish anti-bullying task forces.

•    Each task force shall convene educators and community leaders to evaluate and strengthen bullying prevention efforts at elementary and secondary schools.

o    The chair of the taskforce will be designated by the Chief Education Officer of the state.

o    The task force must be comprised of at least one of the following: teachers at elementary and secondary schools, school administrators, parents, K-12 students, guidance counselors, child psychologists, lawyers,  professionals from organizations who specialize in supportive services for students who identify as LGBTQI+, and representatives from the State Education Agency focused on school improvement.

•    Each task force should coordinate their activities with other boards and commissions within the state to ensure consistency and positive outcomes for students.

•    Each task force shall submit a final report to the Chief Education Officer of the state and the U.S. Secretary of Education with the findings and conclusions of the task force, legislative recommendations, best practices to reduce and prevent hostile school environments, and to increase awareness for parents and school staff.

This bill will empower and provide the structure states need to create effective and long-lasting anti-bullying policies in order to address each of their unique environments. We continue to learn how the existence of commissions or task forces at the state level can provide long-term benefits, allowing flexibility for states to work on the specific needs of their school districts.

The text of the bill is available here.

Original source can be found here.