Support Increasing Title II Funding for Our Schools

Despite the proven impact of principal and teacher quality on student achievement, funding for the Title II of the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) has remained below adequate levels in recent years. Congress authorized this critical program to states for the purpose of preparing, training, recruiting, and retaining high-quality teachers, principals, assistant principals, and other school leaders.

Title II suffered a $294 million cut in FY 2017, which brought the funding amount far below the $2.295 billion authorized level under ESSA. That cut remained in place for the FY 2018 and 2019 budgets, as well. Without the full authorized funding, the program cannot achieve its full effectiveness.

This May, however, the House Appropriations Committee passed a significant $500 million increase to the program. That additional funding would have a major impact on expanding access to quality professional development programs for educators across the country. We need you to contact your representatives and senators now and ask them to support the new $2.6 billion funding level for Title II that's been proposed by the Committee.

Use the tools below to contact your members of Congress today and urge them to stand with educators, school leaders, and students by funding Title II, Part A, of ESSA at $2.6 billion in FY 2020.

Subject:

Support public schools—fund Title II, Part A, of ESSA

Dear Official,

I am writing as your constituent and someone who cares about the future of our public schools and our nation’s students. As a leader in my school, I urge you to support an increase in funding for the Title II, Part A, program of ESSA as you consider appropriations for FY 2020 and beyond.

Congress passed the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015 and authorized the Title II, Part A, program to provide critical funding to states for the purposes of preparing, training, recruiting, and retaining high-quality teachers, principals, assistant principals, and other school leaders. Given the unique role that principals play in ensuring that our nation's teachers are supported, and that our students have a high-quality learning experience through high school in order to be college and career ready, principals must be afforded the necessary opportunities for professional learning and growth as they work to improve teaching and learning in all schools.

Title II saw a drastic reduction in FY 2017 when Congress cut $249 million from the program. Despite the harmful cuts that have remained in place in recent years, President Trump has proposed going even further and completely eliminating funding for Title II, Part A, in his budget. This is not only dangerously shortsighted, it would severely disrupt many states' ESSA implementation plans and have a detrimental impact on student achievement in our state.

Despite the setbacks in recent years, I was extremely encouraged to see the House Appropriations Committee pass a significant $500 million increase for Title II in their Labor-HHS-Ed FY 2020 funding bill. This is a bold step in the right direction that invests in the future of our nation's children. As the House and Senate continue to work through the appropriations process, I ask that you support the new $2.6 billion funding level that has been proposed.

Thank you for your consideration and for your support of our nation's educators and students.

Regards, Your Name

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Thank you for taking action to support Title II funding for our nation’s schools. If you haven’t already done so, please consider completing all the Title II actions on this page - email, call, and tweet - to further amplify our message.

You can contact your members mutltiple times throughout the year using this action alert, and you can also share the campaign link with your family, friends, and networks: http://p2a.co/y4lEtSs

Hello, my name is [name] and I am one of [senator/representative]’s constituents.

I am calling to leave a comment about funding for Title II of the Every Student Succeeds Act. As a leader in my school and community, I see firsthand how Title II benefits our education leaders and our students. Tile II provides critical funding to states for the purposes of preparing, training, recruiting, and retaining high-quality teachers, principals, assistant principals, and other school leaders.

Despite the proven impact of principal and teacher quality on student achievement, Title II was cut by $294 million in 2017, and President Trump has called for elimating the funding altogether. We need our members of Congress to support public education, which is why I’m urging [senator/representative] to support the $500 million increase that's been passed by the House Appropriations Committee.

Thank you.