Findings; purpose

(a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Students of color often experience harsher disciplinary measures and greater barriers to educational opportunities due to racial and gender biases embedded into school codes of conduct, discipline policies, and dress code policies. (2) Racial and gender biases in school discipline practices and limited requirements in educator preparation and professional development all influence how school personal react to behavior by students of color. (3) Improved and increased opportunities for culturally competence professional development programs can help teachers and related school personnel more effectively respond to student behavior misbehavior and thereby decrease the disparity between how Black and White students are disciplined. (b) Purpose The purposes of this Act are the following: (1) To support the mental and behavioral health of students of color. (2) To increase capacity for providing mental health support and counseling services that are accessible, culturally competent, and responsive to the needs of students of color. (3) To provide recommendations on universal school psychologist-to-student ratio and Counselor-to-student ratio to ensure evidence-based healthy school climate interventions, accessible mental health support, program evaluation, and teacher consultation. (4) To codify restorative-level practices that create equitable learning environments, developmental relationships, and build academic engagement.