*An Act Enhancing Learning in the Early School Years Through a Ban on School Exclusion in Pre-Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (H.3876)
Lead Sponsor: Rep. Decker
Aims to improve educational outcomes and graduation rates by banning Massachusetts public schools from suspending or expelling students in grades pre-K through third grade for disciplinary infractions.
*An Act Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Natural Hairstyles (H.1907/S.1049/S.994)
Lead Sponsors: Rep. Tyler, Rep. Ultrino, Sen. Gomez, and Sen. DiDomenico
Amends state civil rights laws to include protections against natural hairstyle discrimination.
An Act Relative to Safer Schools (H.648/S.286)
Lead Sponsors: Rep. Khan and Sen. Chandler
Supports schools that want to transition their school safety programs to ones that do not rely on police and requires more transparency on the impact of School Resource Officers’ interactions with students and their information sharing with law enforcement agencies.
*An Act to Ensure Equitable Access to Education, Including Special Education Services, for All Students in Massachusetts (H.565)
Lead Sponsor: Rep. Decker
Requires publicly available school discipline data to be disaggregated in a way that can be easily cross-tabulated, which can help advocates better identify disparities and inequitable treatment of students.
An Act Relative to the Training, Assessment, and Assignment of Qualified School Interpreters in Educational Settings (H.552/S.303)
Lead Sponsors: Rep. Cabral and Sen. Crighton
Ensures limited English proficient parents and students are provided with competent interpretation services at school.
An Act to Promote the Education Success of Court Involved Children (H.664)
Lead Sponsor: Rep. Meschino
Limits the use of exclusionary discipline for students who have been accused of a criminal offense, narrows the types of student conduct which could result in suspension or expulsion, and establishes procedural protections in disciplinary proceedings for serious offenses.
An Act Requiring Accountability for Inequities in Suspension and Expulsion – The RAISE Act (H.4138)
Lead Sponsor: Rep. Ultrino
Addresses disparities in exclusionary discipline by 1) Requiring the use of alternatives before school exclusion can be attempted, 2) Requiring cross-tabulation of school discipline data, and 3) Narrowing the definitions of “assault” and “deadly weapon” in the school context.
National Advocacy
The Ending PUSHOUT Act
Takes steps to dismantle the school-to-confinement pipeline specifically for girls of color by:
- Mandating improved data collection, creating an interagency task force to study this issue more deeply, and establishing federal grants for schools in which grantees will be required to:
- Invest in counseling, mental health services, and training on implicit bias, restorative practices, and trauma-informed approaches
- Ban most suspensions and expulsions for students in pre-K through 5th grade
- Ban suspensions and expulsions in all grades for minor infractions (dress code policies, tardiness, and chronic absenteeism)
- Prohibit funds from being used to support school-based police or ICE
The CROWN Act
Amends federal civil rights laws to include protections against natural hairstyle discrimination.