Talking points for reaching out to Congress
Updated 8/24/22
- The House approved FY23 Labor HHS Education Appropriations bill contains a much-needed $100 million increase for Title II, Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act. The Senate’s draft bill, however, would allocate only $83 million for Title II-A -- $17 million less than House’s bill.
- Title II-A is the only federal funding dedicated to professional learning for all teachers and leaders and must be fully funded for teachers and principals to meet the needs of the students they educate.
- The stress of teaching in the COVID-19 era has triggered a spike in retirements and resignations, so there is an urgent need to provide the necessary resources to teachers and school leaders to help alleviate difficulties and reduce burnout.
- In order to be able to retain existing educators and recruit new ones, we simply must have more federal support for ongoing, job-embedded, school-based professional learning, mentoring, and coaching.
- The $100 million increase by the House is warranted because Title II-A has been consistently underfunded and would represent the most significant funding increase for this program in more than a decade. It would also – finally – bring Title II-A close to its authorized funding level.
- Finally, while Congress approved significant short-term COVID relief dollars, those funds are no substitute for regular, annualized funding allocations that our schools receive through Title II-A for professional learning.
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