2026 Advocacy Resources
- Take part in March for Children & Youth Month!
- A Guide to Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) Congressional Outreach FY2026: Use the templates and FAQ within this guide to inform your messaging and advocacy.
- Community Schools Non-Federal Outreach Guide: this version of our messaging and advocacy guide can be used to communicate with state legislators.
- Hill Day How-To Videos:
- Sustaining Community Schools Through State-Level Blending & Braiding: a timely brief that explores how state funding can be blended and braided to support Community Schools, holistically and pillar by pillar.
- A Guide to Mobilizing Your Community School Network: This guide is for FSCS grantees who are already in deep contact with their Members of Congress to mobilize their communities to conduct congressional outreach.
- A Guide to Utilizing Data in FSCS Advocacy for New Grantees: This guide is for newer FSCS grantees on how to use the RPN Clearinghouse and how to input material into their outreach templates.
- How to Tell Your Community Schools Story: The following suggestions offer different actions you and your organization can take to have your voice heard about the impact of Community Schools. They range from educational to advocacy to lobbying that can be used at the local, state, and/or federal levels. Even if your representative is not on a decision-making committee, they still have a vote, and every vote counts! It is up to your discretion to decide what action(s) are best for you and your organization.
- (NEW) The Power of Community Schools: An overview of evidence showing how Community Schools are a highly effective strategy for improving student success by integrating academic supports, family engagement, and community partnerships.
- The Federal Budget Race – The FY26 Appropriations Season is wrapping up, but there are still several key steps until federal funding is decided for fiscal year 2026. The FY26 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) bills in each chamber are at different stages in the Appropriations Process. Check out status of the race to fund Education with this infographic.
- Full-Service Community Schools & Promise Neighborhoods Grants: This tool provides a breakdown by grant type, region, state, year, and implementation location.
- Community Schools Playbook
- Talking Points for Community Schools: Community Schools Playbook pg. 74
- Find your U.S. Representative; Find your U.S. Senators listed by state
- Members of Congress’ Twitter handles
- IEL/CCS January 2026 Statement on FSCS
March for Children & Youth Month
Since 1997, the Institute for Educational Leadership has mobilized the Coalition for Community Schools to lead advocacy efforts to promote Community Schools as a vehicle to ensure all young people have the conditions they need to succeed and thrive.
March for Children and Youth Month was launched by our partners at First Focus for Children in 2017 as an annual campaign to concentrate our advocacy efforts among our national, state and local partners. Our collective advocacy as a Coalition is important to build champions among our policymakers for policies and funding that support children and youth. This year, IEL will be a hosting a Hill Day in Washington, D.C. with our Education Policy Fellowship ProgramTM cohort, on March 25th.
Helpful Resources: