Washington, D.C. – Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (“LDF”) joined other civil rights and education groups in supporting introduction of the Positive Behavior for Safe and Effective Schools Act (PBSESA) – a bill to fund positive, preventative approaches to discipline in U.S. schools. The bipartisan bill, sponsored by U.S. Representatives Danny Davis (D, IL -7th), Todd Platts (R, PA- 19th), Bobby Scott (D, VA-3rd), and Chris Murphy (D, CT-5th), focuses on alternatives to harsh and exclusionary discipline, and highlights School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports (“SWPBS”) as an appropriate use of funds under several titles of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). An earlier version of the bill was introduced by then-Senator Barack Obama in 2007.
