The House bill H.R. 4247 regulating restraint and seclusion in schools successfully passed out of committee today. There are a lot of additional hurdles with the full House yet to vote on the bill, and ultimately conference committee to reconcile the bill with a Senate version. In this process there are many interests that would like to kill or weaken this bill, so we must keep those calls and emails coming to your respective Congressperson. It may seem odd that schools and other lobby groups could array themselves against a clear effort to protect children from harm in school. However, schools view this issue as a matter of law and order, discipline in school and being able to have complete autonomy. Those concerns are the standard arguments which are used to rebut any form of regulation or perceived expansion of parents' rights, in this instance these "concerns" must give way. The objective data has demonstrated the pervasive harm that children have suffered from inappropriate restraint and seclusion. This bill is a key piece of legislation that needs to be passed this term.
Below is a summary of the bill from the House EdLabor committee's website .
