Join us on May 15 for a National Day of Action to advocate for full funding for Title II, Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Nearly every school district receives Title II funding to support the recruitment, preparation, development, and retention of excellent teachers and school leaders, but funding for Title II is in danger of being eliminated. The elimination—or significant reduction—of Title II funding would have a drastic and negative impact on teachers, principals, school leaders, and the students they serve.

Three Simple Ways to Advocate for Title II Funding on May 15

Send a prewritten letter to Congress

Find your member of Congress here and use the draft email below to send a prewritten email message to Congress about the importance of Title II and why professional development for educators is crucial for student achievement.

Dear ____,
I am writing as your constituent and someone who cares about the future of our public schools and our nation’s students. 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 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 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS-Ed) Appropriations subcommittee propose a significant $500 million increase for Title II when they marked up the first FY 2020 appropriations 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.
Sincerely,
[Educator’s name]

Social media using #TitleIIA @[Senators and Reps]

Here are some sample tweets you can use Twitter:

  • Leadership retention is at risk. Help me support #TitleIIA which provides critical state funding to prepare, train, recruit & retain high-quality school leaders and support personnel. Call your member of Congress TODAY. https://p2a.co/AIwdoyF
  • Support me in supporting #TitleIIA—the funding that enables us to prepare, train, recruit & retain high-quality school leaders and support personnel. Don’t wait, call your congressional member and tell them to vote for #TitleII funding today! https://p2a.co/AIwdoyF
  • Have you thought about what would happen if your school leaders didn’t get the funding they need? Support #TitleIIA to make sure this doesn’t happen. You can make a difference by calling your congressional member TODAY! https://p2a.co/AIwdoyF
  • Funding for teacher and principal retention and training are at risk, and the vote for #TitleIIA is approaching fast. Please help me by calling your congressional member today and tell them to support #TitleII! https://p2a.co/AIwdoyF
  • Critical state funding is at risk. #TitleIIA already suffered a $294 million cut in FY 2017, which remained unchanged for the FY 2018 & FY 2019 budgets. This is directly affecting principals & teachers. Help support #TitleIIA by calling your member of Congress today! https://p2a.co/AIwdoyF
  • Without #TitleIIA, we would not have the funds for educators to improve and develop their expertise—ultimately improving overall education for students. Call your congressional member today and tell them to support Title II! https://p2a.co/AIwdoyF

Here are some sample posts you can use on Facebook:

  • Critical state funding that prepares, trains, recruits & retains high-quality school leaders and support personnel is at risk. I am asking for your help to support #TitleIIA by calling your congressional member today! https://p2a.co/AIwdoyF
  • Critical state funding through Title II is at risk which goes toward preparing, training, and recruiting high-quality teachers, principals, and other school leaders. #TitleIIA has already suffered a $294 million cut in FY 2017, and that cut remained in place for the FY 2018 and 2019 budgets. Without the full authorized funding, the program cannot achieve its full effectiveness. Let’s make sure we receive the funding we need by calling your congressional member today! https://p2a.co/AIwdoyF
  • Please help me in supporting #TitleIIA. This is the funding that prepares, trains, recruits and retains high-quality school leaders and support personnel. Why this is important? Without Title II A, we would not have the funds for educators to improve and develop their expertise—ultimately improving overall education for students. Call your member of Congress today and tell them to support this critical funding! https://p2a.co/AIwdoyF
  • Teachers are not the only ones who benefit from #TitleIIA. Principals—who hire, retain, and supervise teachers—also benefit tremendously. Improving teachers’ and principals’ knowledge and skills are vital to improving the education of America’s children. Today, the dollars that are key to those opportunities are at risk. I am asking for your help: Call your congressional member today and demand that they support Title II funding! https://p2a.co/AIwdoyF
  • I am asking for your help! The vote for #TitleIIA funding is quickly approaching. Advocate for funding for quality school leaders and support personnel today! Call your congressional member and ask them for their endorsement for Title II https://p2a.co/AIwdoyF

Also, social media graphics can play an important role in catching the eye of your legislators. Feel free to use one of these with the tweets above:

Call your members of Congress!

Find your members of Congress here and give them a call! Follow this script to urge them to support increasing Title II funding in FY 2020:

I am a [insert title and organizational affiliation] and I am calling to urge Senator/Representative [insert name here] to support an increase in funding for Title II, Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in FY 2020. Title II, Part A provides critical funding to states for the purposes of preparing, training, recruiting, and retaining high-quality teachers, principals, assistant principals, and school support personnel.
The House Labor-HHS-Ed Appropriations subcommittee included a significant $500 million increase for Title II when they marked up their appropriations bill last month. 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.
Given the unique role that principals, teachers, and school support personnel play in ensuring that our nation’s students have high-quality learning experiences in order to be college and career ready, educators must be afforded the necessary opportunities for professional learning and growth as they work to improve teaching and learning in all schools.
I urge Senator/Representative [insert name] to advocate for Title II, Part A to receive the proposed funding of $2.6 billion in FY 2020. Thank you.