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Legislation that aims to prohibit discrimination and harassment of LGBT students in public schools failed Tuesday to reach the 6o-vote threshold needed for passage in the Senate as part of an education reform bill.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) introduced the amendment, which was based on standalone legislation known as the Student Non-Discrimination Act, as an amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act, a Republican version of legislation that would reauthorize the Education & Secondary Education Act. The vote on the measure was 52-45, which wasn’t enough under Senate rules to attach the measure to the larger bill.

Franken said after the vote the failure of the measure was a “tremendous disappointment” and means LGBT students throughout the country who face a disproportionate share of bullying and harassment in schools remain at risk.

“The inability to put in place meaningful protections for some of our most vulnerable children is an enormous disservice to LGBT students all across the country who face terrible bullying every day,” Franken said. “Right now, there are federal laws on the books to protect kids against discrimination or harassment based on things like gender, race, national origin, and disability. My measure simply would have extended those protections to LGBT kids.”

Modeled after Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Student Non-Discrimination Act would prohibit public schools from discriminating against any student based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, including by allowing bullying against them.

Among 52 senators who voted for the bill were seven Republicans: Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio). All Democrats present voted for the bill. Not voting on the measure were Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Notably, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) voted against the amendment to prohibit anti-LGBT student discrimination, but were among the 10 Republicans who voted for a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that would have prohibited employment discrimination. Flake and McCain also both came out against the Arizona religious freedom bill in 2013 seen to enable anti-LGBT discrimination.

Among those congratulating Franken for introducing the amendment was Senior Adviser to President Obama Valerie Jarett, who tweeted support for the Student Non-Discrimination Act following the vote.

Glad @AlFranken and other Senate leaders are stepping up to make sure every student has a safe and healthy environment at school #SNDA #ESEA — Valerie Jarrett (@vj44) July 14, 2015

On the same day as the vote on the amendment, a group of 64 House Democrats led by Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) and Mike Honda (D-Calif.) sent a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan calling on him to take steps to reaffirm LGBT students already have protections from discrimination based on existing law. The department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.

As the letter notes, the Office of Civil Rights in the Education Department already clarified last year Title IX protections against gender discrimination extend to discrimination based on gender identity or gender non-conformity. Moreover, the department has already taken steps on LGBT data collection and reaffirming the right of students to start gay-straight alliances.

“We urge you to build on these initial steps by developing, finalizing, and issuing guidance that clearly outlines schools’ obligations to protect LGBT students from discrimination under Title IX,” the lawmakers write. “Comprehensive guidance on this matter would not only provide information on what steps schools must take to cover issues such as access to curricular and extracurricular activities, protecting school privacy, and the application of dress standards; it would also help schools understand their obligation to prevent bullying and harassment against LGBT students under current law.

Ian Thompson, legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union, lambasted the Senate for failing to pass the measure, but saw a silver lining in bipartisan support for the amendment.

“It is disappointing that the Senate failed to act to explicitly protect LGBT children in our nation’s public schools from discrimination,” Thompson said. “What could be more commonsense? It is, however, encouraging that a bipartisan majority of senators came together in support of the idea that all children, regardless of who they are, deserve the right to learn in an environment that is safe and free from the fear of discrimination looming over their heads.”