MAGNET Act of 2022
Key claim: The MAGNET Act would extend federal grants for magnet schools through 2025 and create a new grant program for school districts and states to increase student diversity in those schools.
Abstract
(S3849 · 117th Congress) Magnet Schools Accessibility, Growth, and Nonexclusionary Enrollment Transformation Act of 2022 or the MAGNET Act of 2022 This bill reauthorizes through FY2025 and expands the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP), which provides grants to eligible local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish and operate magnet schools that are operated under a court-ordered or federally approved voluntary desegregation plan. The bill authorizes a new grant program under MSAP to award grants to LEAs and state educational agencies for increasing diversity in magnet schools. Latest action (2022-03-16): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Why this matters
Magnet schools are one of the few remaining federal tools aimed explicitly at voluntary school integration, so periodic reauthorization determines whether districts can keep operating diversity-focused programs with federal support. The 2022 MAGNET Act illustrates the recurring pattern of modest expansion proposals stalling in committee, leaving the underlying program dependent on the existing authorization and annual appropriations.