Casey urges passage of his anti-bullying bill

Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) urged his colleagues on Monday to take up and pass his bill aimed at preventing bullying in schools.

“Children deserve to go to school without fear or intimidation,” Casey said Monday. “Bullying and harassment affect millions of students every year. This legislation will help ensure that we are providing children with a quality education that builds self-confidence.”

The Safe Schools Improvement Act, S. 403, would require schools and districts that receive federal funding to adopt codes of conduct specifically prohibiting bullying and harassment based on a student’s actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion.

The bill also asks states to collect information on incidents of bullying and harassment and report the data to the Department of Education so that parents can know what is happening in their local schools.

Casey introduced the bill last week along with Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who is cosponsoring the bipartisan legislation.

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