Senate Lacks Votes To Adopt LGBT School Anti-Bullying Amendment

As reported by the Washington Post, the U.S. Senate yesterday failed to pass an anti-bullying amendment (details) offered by Sen. Al Franken to the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015. The amendment would have prohibited discrimination and bullying on the basis of perceived sexual orientation or gender identity in K-12 public schools. While the vote (details) in favor of the amendment was 52-45, the Senate needed 60 votes to approve it. Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, who is also a former education secretary, urged his colleagues to vote against the amendment because it was an issue better handled at the local level.