More than 80% of Republicans vote against law intended to prevent child abuse in schools

The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed the Keeping All Students Safe Act over the objections of a vast majority of Republicans, which sets minimum national standards for practices such as the use seclusion rooms or forced restraint of unruly students.

The proposed federal law intended to prevent child abuse in schools has been praised by children's protection advocates, and slammed by House Republicans as an unnecessary expansion of federal government power.

 The bill’s stated purposes include the following:

Prevent and reduce the use of physical restraint and seclusion in schools;

Ensure the safety of all students and school personnel in schools and promote a positive school culture and climate; 

Protect students from physical or mental abuse; aversive behavioral interventions that compromise health and safety; and any physical restraint or seclusion imposed solely for purposes of discipline or convenience;

Ensure that physical restraint and seclusion are imposed in school only when a student’s behavior poses an imminent danger of physical injury to the student, school personnel, or others….

The bill would ban the use of mechanical restraints such as tying children to furniture, and would allow seclusion and physical restraint to be used only when there is imminent danger of injury and only when imposed by trained staff.

The democratic bill was put forth in reaction to a government report last year that found hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and death related to the practices. It was opposed by more than 80% of Republicans, who said the bill amounted to an intrusion on states' rights and the ability of local school districts to determine their own policies.

145 Republicans voted against the bill last week, which will have to get the Senate's and the president's approval to become law.

Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa said that the bill would lead to a federal takeover of the education system.

A report from the Government Accountability Office, released last year, found hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and death related to the use of these methods on school children during the past two decades. The GAO report noted that children with disabilities are especially vulnerable to abuse.