New Bill Proposes $1 Billion Annually to Overhaul School Discipline, Limit Suspensions, and Boost Student Support

A significant piece of legislation, the "Ending PUSHOUT Act of 2025," is on the table, aiming to fundamentally change how schools handle discipline. It proposes a hefty $1 billion annual authorization split between collecting detailed data on disciplinary actions and funding programs designed to keep students, especially girls of color and those with disabilities, in the classroom rather than suspending or expelling them.

Getting the Facts Straight: Mandating Detailed Discipline Data

First up, this bill wants transparency. Section 4 mandates the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights to annually collect granular data from public schools nationwide. We're talking numbers on every suspension (in-school and out-of-school), expulsion, school transfer, law enforcement referral, and school-based arrest. Crucially, this data has to be broken down by race, ethnicity, sex, disability status, income level, English learner status, and more. The idea is to get a clear picture of who is being disciplined, why, and whether certain groups are disproportionately affected. Think of it as a national report card on school discipline fairness, designed to pinpoint schools or districts where exclusionary practices might be excessive or discriminatory.

Funding Change: Grants for Support, Restrictions on Punishment

The core of the proposed change lies in Section 5: a competitive grant program authorizing $500 million yearly (shared with the task force in Sec 6) for schools and nonprofits. To get these funds, applicants must commit to tackling disparities and focus on schools with high rates of exclusionary discipline for specific student groups. Here’s the catch for grant recipients: they cannot use out-of-school suspensions or expulsions for kids in Pre-K through 5th grade (unless there's serious physical injury involved) or for any student (Pre-K-12) for things like 'insubordination,' 'defiance,' dress code violations, or truancy. Corporal punishment, seclusion, and chemical/mechanical restraints are also off-limits for grant recipients.

Instead, the money must be used for things like developing non-punitive discipline policies with community input, training staff in bias awareness and trauma-informed practices (like restorative justice or social-emotional learning), hiring more counselors and social workers (explicitly stating they can't be proxies for law enforcement), and implementing evidence-based support systems. Notably, these grant funds cannot be used to hire school resource officers (SROs), buy surveillance tech like metal detectors or monitoring software, or arm school staff.

Spotlight on Girls of Color: A Dedicated Task Force

Recognizing that girls of color often face unique disciplinary challenges, Section 6 establishes a joint task force between the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. This group – made up of students (specifically including Black, Brown, and Indigenous girls), parents, educators, civil rights advocates, mental health professionals, and researchers (but pointedly excluding law enforcement) – is charged with studying why these disparities exist and recommending concrete solutions. They'll look at how discipline contributes to 'pushout' and criminalization, aiming to provide actionable strategies for schools and policymakers within a year.

The Real-World Ripple Effect

If enacted, this legislation represents a major federal push away from zero-tolerance policies and towards more supportive, preventative approaches in schools receiving these grants. For parents and students, particularly in schools that secure funding, it could mean fewer automatic suspensions for minor infractions and more access to counseling or conflict resolution. For school administrators, it means a potential influx of resources but also strict requirements to rethink discipline strategies and invest in alternatives. It signals a clear federal priority shift, using funding to incentivize specific changes in how schools manage student behavior, with a strong focus on equity and keeping kids learning.