We are excited to share that Congress showed strong support last week for Community Schools in the House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor-HHS-ED) subcommittee markup of the FY 2023 bill! The bill, which goes to the full House appropriations committee next week, includes our requested $468 million for the Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) program, plus $10 million for Integrated Student Supports as a first-ever separate line item!
This contrasts with the U.S. Department of Education’s request of $468 million total for the FSCS program inclusive of proposed funding for Integrated Student Supports, so our advocacy helped to both maintain the full $468 million for the Full-Service Community Schools program and increase the subcommittee’s total investment for kids, families, and communities by $10 million additional going to Integrated Student Supports!
We also are deeply grateful for the support and leadership of House Labor-HHS-ED Appropriations subcommittee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro, a fierce advocate for Community Schools.
Our advocacy isn’t over yet though. The House Appropriations Committee votes on this spending bill this Thursday, June 30th, and the Senate still needs to weigh in before the final spending for FY 2023, slated to begin October 1, is decided. Take a few minutes to contact your members of Congress and tell them to support these investments for Full-Service Community Schools and Integrated Student Supports, and thank you in advance!
Jose Munoz, Director, Coalition for Community Schools
Mary Kingston Roche, IEL Director of Policy