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House Passes STOP School Violence Act One Month After Parkland Shooting

March 14, 2018

By: Andrew Ujifusa

Source: Education Week

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to approve the STOP School Violence Act, which aims to train teachers and other school staff in violence prevention and fund other programs to help stop incidents like the school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

H.R. 4909 would reauthorize the Secure Our Schools grant program and authorize $50 million in funds annually from fiscal 2019 through fiscal 2028. It also includes a ban on any of the grant funds being used to train or provide school staff with firearms. The House passed the legislation by a vote of 407-10.

The bill passed the House exactly one month after 17 students and staff were shot and killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Its lead author is Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., but it had the backing of Democrats as well as Republicans.

There is also a version of the STOP School Violence Act in the Senate. The two bills are roughly similar but aren’t the same—the Senate STOP Act would authorize more money for the grant program, for example. But the Senate bill also bars grant funds from being used to “provide firearms or training in the use of firearms.” We explore differences between the two bills here.

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