§104.Office of Peace Education and Training
This section establishes an Office of Peace Education and Training in the Department of Education, headed by an Assistant Secretary for Peace Education and Training, and directs the office to carry out Department functions related to peace education and training at the pre-kindergarten, elementary, secondary, university, and postgraduate levels in consultation with specified Department of Health and Human Services entities, including the Administration for Children and Families, the Administration on Aging, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health. It also directs the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, Indigenous communities, the United States Institute of Peace, nongovernmental organizations, public institutions, higher education peace and conflict studies programs, and relevant federal agencies, to develop and disseminate peace curricula and supporting materials for state educational agencies in each state and territory and other interested institutions. The curriculum must include: (1) communicative peace skills and nonviolent conflict resolution skills; (2) compassion, empathy, mindfulness, kindness, acceptance, understanding, respect, inclusion, and forgiveness; (3) instruction on historical and contemporary events using nonviolent and peacebuilding principles and on individuals and organizations that use those principles; (4) the economic, health, social, and scientific benefits of a peaceful society; and (5) other objectives to increase knowledge of peace processes. Finally, this section authorizes the Assistant Secretary to provide peace education grants to pre-kindergarten schools, elementary schools, secondary schools, and institutions of higher education for peace studies departments, teacher training, violence prevention, peacebuilding, community building, and nonviolent conflict resolution, and to establish the Community Peace Block Grant program for nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations to develop school and neighborhood nonviolent conflict resolution programs and local peacebuilding initiatives.