Advocacy Letters

Federal Grants to Support School Mental Health: ASCA signed onto a letter urging Congress to pass an appropriations bill that helps address the severe shortages of school-based mental health professionals (school psychologists, school counselors, and school social workers) and other specialized instructional support personnel. (Dec. 7, 2021)

Federal TRIO Programs: ASCA signed on to a letter urging the U.S. Department of Education to eliminate the regulatory requirement that participants in the Federal TRIO Programs must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents to access TRIO’s life-changing college access completion services. The Federal TRIO Programs provide counseling, mentoring, tutoring and advising services for low-income students and those who will be the first in their family to earn a college degree, students with disabilities, disconnected adults, and military veterans. TRIO currently serves more than 800,000 students annually, two-thirds of whom are students of color. TRIO has produced more than six million college graduates. (July 8, 2021)

SEL in FY22 Appropriations: ASCA signed onto a letter to congressional Appropriations Committee leadership urging them to prioritize SEL in the fiscal year 2022 appropriations bill of at least $784 million.

Title IX: GLSEN submitted comments on Title IX rules, co-led by the American School Counselor Association, Human Rights Campaign, National Association of School Psychologists, National PTA, National Women’s Law Center and PFLAG National, in response to the Department of Education's Public Hearing on Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (86 FR 27429).

Infrastructure Funding: ASCA joined 16 national organizations urging Congress to include at least $100 billion in direct grants and $30 billion in bonds for K-12 public school facilities in any infrastructure funding bill, which is consistent with the Reopen and Rebuild America's Schools Act, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in July 2020. (May 12, 2021)

Safe Schools National Activities Program: ASCA worked with the National Association of School Psychologists, the American Psychological Association and Sandy Hook Promise on a letter to Congress urging an increase of $500 million to the Safe Schools National Activities Programs for grant programs intended to increase access to school-based mental health providers and address shortages in the field. 55 national organizations and 105 state organizations signed on to the effort. (April 26, 2021)

Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Nearly 100 organizations representing millions of public service workers and student loan borrowers urge the U.S. Secretary of Education to immediately undertake a review of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and ensure all public service workers who have completed a decade of service receive the debt relief they were promised. (April 12, 2021)

Equity in School Reopening: ASCA, GLSEN, National PTA, the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the National Association of School Psychologists delivered a joint statement to school leaders and other stakeholders urging them to prioritize equity in school reopenings. (March 18, 2021)

Homework Gap: ASCA joined 58 education and related national associations urging the U.S. Senate to include $7 billion of Emergency Connectivity funds as outlined in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, previously approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. (March 4, 2021)

Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act: ASCA and 150 other organizations sent a letter to President Biden encouraging him to end the use of Department of Justice federal funding for police in schools, but instead shift funding away from supporting the use of school-based police and toward the use of much-needed mental health professionals in our schools. The letter also urged the president to work with Congress to support positive school climates by submitting an FY 2022 budget specifically prohibiting all federal funding of police in schools and endorsing the Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act. (Feb. 21, 2021)

American Rescue Plan: ASCA and other leading education organizations sent a letter to the House of Representatives in support of the $128 billion in funding included in the American Rescue Plan to address, among other needs, supporting remote learning, hiring support staff, rethinking school calendars, improving ventilation in buildings and more. (Feb. 22, 2021)

Homework Gap: ASCA and numerous other education and related national associations support the $7.6 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund, contained in the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2021, S. Con. Res. 5, that allow would allow Federal Communications to provide one-time emergency support for schools and libraries to purchase technology and devices needed for Internet connectivity through the E-rate program. (Feb. 10, 2021)

State and Local Aid: The recent relief bill provided only a portion of what is needed to address the effects of the pandemic on the safe operation of schools. Additional funds for states, counties, cities, towns and schools are critical to address revenue losses due to the downturn in the economy and the additional costs needed to continue COVID response. (Jan. 15, 2021)

No Name-Calling Week: ASCA and a number of other K–12 education organizations signed onto a letter urging the House of Representatives to officially designate Jan. 18–22, 2020, as No Name-Calling Week. (Dec. 15, 2020)

COVID-19 Vaccine: ASCA and other members of the Learning First Alliance urge the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to give adults in the school system priority access to COVID-19 vaccinations. (Nov. 30, 2020)

HEROES Act 2.0: 60 education and related national associations urge Congress to include in an emergency COVID-19 package the provisions in the HEROES Act 2.0 (H.R. 925), which would establish an Emergency Connectivity Fund to provide $12 billion to schools and libraries to ensure students and educators have Internet access from home and appropriate connectivity devices. (Nov. 20, 2020)

Gavin Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board: In the case of Gavin Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, the Fourth Circuit Court affirmed that Title IX protects the plaintiff from discrimination and the school district was incorrect in preventing him from using the bathroom that matches his gender identity. The Court writes, “At the heart of this appeal is whether equal protection and Title IX can protect transgender students from school bathroom policies that prohibit them from affirming their gender. We join a growing consensus of courts in holding that the answer is resoundingly yes.” In its decision, the court quoted from an amicus brief provided by ASCA, GLSEN, the National PTA and the National Association of School Psychologists. (September 2020)

Bostock v. Clayton County: On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Bostock v. Clayton County “discrimination based on homosexuality or transgender status necessarily entails discrimination based on sex; the first cannot happen without the second.” However, the U.S. Department of Education (USED), Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has yet to issue guidance ensuring the protection of LGBTQ students or educators. ASCA joins education and civil rights organizations urging OCR to take immediate action to ensure equal protections as the country returns to school. (August 2020)

Stabilization Funding: ASCA and other education associations encourage Congress to provide additional stabilization funding for states, including substantial funding specifically for K-12 education and higher education, in an upcoming legislative package designed to address the continuing challenges and aftermath presented by COVID-19. (August 2020)

HEALS: ASCA joins additional organizations in responding to the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act. (July 2020)