{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-murray-beyer-scott-mceachin-unveil-bill-to-protect-students-from-dangerous-seclusion-and-restraint-practices", "Murphy, Murray, Beyer, Scott, McEachin Unveil Bill To Protect Students From Dangerous Seclusion And Restraint PracticesRead More", "2020-11-19", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "Christopher Murphy", "M001169", "www.murphy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTONU.S.\r\nSenators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) joined U.S.\r\nRepresentatives Don Beyer (VA-08), Robert C. Bobby Scott (VA-03),\r\nand Donald McEachin (VA-04) on Thursday in announcing the Keeping All\r\nStudents Safe Act to protect students from dangerous seclusion and\r\nrestraint discipline practices in school. Every\r\nchild should be safe and protected while in school. Sadly, that is not always\r\nthe case. The most current data from the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC)\r\nreveals that 101,990 students were subjected to seclusion or restraint during\r\nthe 2017-18 school year. Of the students restrained or secluded, 78 percent were\r\nstudents with disabilities who were disproportionately students who identified\r\nas Black/African American and boys. The Keeping\r\nAll Students Safe Act would make it illegal for any school receiving\r\nfederal taxpayer money to seclude children and would ban dangerous restraint\r\npractices that restrict children's breathing, such as prone or supine\r\nrestraint. The bill would also prohibit schools from physically\r\nrestraining children, except when necessary to protect students and\r\nstaff. The bill would better equip school personnel with the training\r\nthey need to address school-expected behavior with evidence-based proactive\r\nstrategies, require states to monitor the law's implementation, and increase\r\ntransparency and oversight to prevent future abuse of students. Far too\r\nmany students, particularly those with disabilities and kids of color, are\r\nsubject to inhumane seclusion and restraint practices that have harmful effects\r\non their learning and experience in the classroom - often with traumatic and\r\nsometimes fatal consequences.My colleagues and I are introducing\r\nlegislation to fix this problem. No taxpayer-funded school in America should\r\nlock kids up alone in rooms or restrain them with abusive methods, said\r\nSenator Chris Murphy.TheKeeping All Students Safe Act would\r\nestablish strong federal standards to keep students safe, while providing\r\nschool staff with alternatives to address disruptive behavior with evidence-based,\r\ntrauma-informed,proactive strategies and the resources to put those\r\nalternatives into practice. The\r\npractice of subjecting students to abusive discipline techniques happens far\r\ntoo often, and disproportionately affects Black children and students with\r\ndisabilities. Many states have previously recognized the harm of seclusion and\r\ninappropriate restraint in the classroom and banned these practices. Our bill\r\nwould enact nationwide protections that students across the country deserve, said\r\nCongressman Don Beyer. The Keeping All Students Safe Act will\r\nprotect students from harmful discipline by creating minimum safety standards\r\nfor schools and by providing training and support to school personnel. Every\r\nstudent deserves to feel safe at their school, and our bill would help\r\ntranslate this important principle into law. Despite\r\nevidence that seclusion and restraint practices make schools less safe,\r\nthousands of students are still subjected to these disproven methods of\r\ndiscipline. What's more, students of color and students with disabilities are\r\ndisproportionately impacted by these harmful practices. It's time we recognize\r\nthat a quality education cannot be achieved without a safe learning\r\nenvironment, said Congressman Robert C. Bobby Scott. The Keeping\r\nAll Students Safe Act would establish nationwide requirements and provide\r\nstates and teachers the support they need to improve their schools' culture by\r\nusing only evidence-based interventions. Every\r\nstudent deserves to be safe at school. But shockingly, schools are still\r\nallowed to punish students by locking them in rooms or forcibly restraining\r\nthem in dangerous waysand students with disabilities and students of color\r\nface the most harm. This is completely unacceptable, said Senator Patty\r\nMurray. The Keeping All Students Safe Act will ban these harmful\r\ntactics of seclusion and dangerous restraint and limit physical restraint,\r\nmaking our schools safer and more supportive environments for all childrenno\r\nmatter their race or disability. I'm proud to join my colleagues in introducing\r\nthis important legislation and I'll continue working to address the many\r\neducational inequities that keep so many students from receiving a high-quality\r\neducation. For far\r\ntoo long, our nation's students, particularly students of color and students\r\nwith disabilities, have been subjected to inappropriate and abusive seclusion\r\nand restraint in the classroom,said Congressman Donald McEachin.\r\nNot only are these dangerous policies ineffective at addressing student\r\nbehavior, but they can also cause significant emotional and physical trauma. We\r\nmust protect our students from these abusive techniques, and the Keeping All\r\nStudents Safe Act will put in place the standards and restrictions\r\nnecessary to ensure our children's health and safety. Every child deserves to\r\ngrow and prosper in a high-quality and healthy learning environment. To read\r\nthe Keeping All Students Safe Act bill text,clickhere. To read\r\nthe Keeping All Students Safe Act fact sheet, click here. To read\r\nthe Keeping All Students Safe Act section-by-section, click here. The Keeping\r\nAll Students Safe Act is endorsed by: This\r\nlegislation is supported by the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates\r\n(COPAA), The Arc, National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), Autistic Self\r\nAdvocacy Network (ASAN), National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD),\r\nNational Center for Special Education in Charter Schools, Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD),\r\nNational Autism Association, SPAN Parent\r\nAdvocacy Network, Family Alliance to Stop Abuse and Neglect, National Parent\r\nTeacher Association (National PTA), National Center for Parent Leadership,\r\nAdvocacy, and Community Empowerment (National PLACE), Autism Society of\r\nAmerica, Center for Public Representation, RespectAbility, Council of State\r\nAdministrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR), CommunicationFIRST,\r\nNational Association of School Psychologists (NASP), Disability Rights\r\nEducation & Defense Fund, Higher Education Consortium for Special Education\r\n(HECSE), National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), Learning\r\nDisabilities Association of America (LDA), National Association of State Directors\r\nof Special Education (NASDSE), Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint,\r\nCouncil for Exceptional Children (CEC), and Bazelon Center. The Arc of Arizona,\r\nThe Arc of Maryland, The Arc of New Jersey, The Arc of Wisconsin, Parents Place\r\nof Maryland, Family Voices NJ, Parents Reaching Out (NM),Access Livingand Parent Education\r\nAdvocacy Leadership Center (PEAL Center; PA). ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-murray-beyer-scott-mceachin-unveil-bill-to-protect-students-from-dangerous-seclusion-and-restraint-practices"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4356628526002169, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}