S. 5467 — MAGNET Act

This section states congressional findings on the academic and social benefits of racially and socioeconomically integrated schools for students of all backgrounds, the harms of segregation including resource inequities and widening achievement gaps, and data showing that more than one-third of U.S. students attend schools where at least 75 percent of students are of a single race or ethnicity.

This section establishes the purpose of the Act to amend the Magnet Schools Assistance Program to create a supplemental diversity grant for aspiring magnet school programs to adopt effective practices that further desegregation and promote racial and socioeconomic diversity, and to supplement voluntary State efforts to promote inter-district diversity.

This section expands eligibility for magnet schools assistance grants to State educational agencies, in addition to local educational agencies and consortia. It revises grant priorities to favor whole-school magnet programs, inter-district choice, agency- or state-wide diversity improvements, and inclusive enrollment practices such as weighted lotteries. It authorizes novice applicants to use up to 1 percent of funds for technical assistance and reauthorizes the program for FY2027 through FY2031.

This section establishes supplemental diversity grants under the magnet schools assistance program. It authorizes the Secretary to award grants to local educational agencies, consortia, or state educational agencies that have not received magnet schools assistance grants in the prior 3 years, for adopting evidence-based practices to promote socioeconomic and racial integration, inclusive enrollment such as weighted lotteries, family outreach in multiple languages, restorative discipline, and data monitoring of segregation reduction, with priority for applicants embedding integration in school design and addressing subgroup disparities.