Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

S. 3173. A bill to allow funds under title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to be used to provide training to school personnel regarding how to recognize child sexual abuse; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of myself and Senator HUTCHISON, to introduce bipartisan legislation that would expand No Child Left Behind professional development funding to include training for teachers and school personnel on how to recognize signs of sexual abuse in students.

According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, 695,000 children were victims of maltreatment in 2010. Approximately 9.2 percent, or 63,940 children, were victims of sexual abuse; this is an increase from 7.6 percent in 2009.

Recent events have shown that warning signs of sexual abuse in children are being missed. The vast majority of States mandate that teachers report suspicions of child abuse, yet not all States require teachers to participate in training.

According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, 60 percent of all reports of child abuse and neglect are made by professionals, yet only 16 percent of abuse and neglect is reported by education personnel.

Given the amount of time teachers and school personnel spend with children, it is of absolute importance that the warning signs of child sexual abuse be identified, reported, and acted on. It is critical to make sure all school personnel have access to training on how to recognize child sexual abuse.

The Helping Schools Protect Our Children Act of 2012 expands the list of allowable uses for Elementary and Secondary Education Act, ESEA, Title II funding to permit States to use this funding to train teachers, principals, and other school personnel on how to recognize child sexual abuse. Under current law, Title II provides grants to States for a variety of purposes related to recruitment, retention, and professional development of K 12 teachers and principals. Our bill would allow professional development funds in schools to be used to provide teachers with the tools to recognize child sexual abuse.

I am proud that Senator KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Senate Minority Whip JON KYL, and my colleague Senator FRANK LAUTENBERG have joined me as original cosponsors on this bill.

It is essential that as mandated reporters, school personnel should have the proper training to recognize child abuse. When there are no witnesses, what happens behind closed doors in an abusive home can scar a child for a lifetime. The more we learn to recognize the signs of abuse or neglect, the better we will foster a safe environment for young people to learn and grow.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record,

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