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Bethesda, MD—The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) is pleased to see that President Biden’s proposed FY22 budget presents tremendous opportunity for our nation’s public education system and the students it serves. This historic budget proposal prioritizes addressing disparities that have existed for too long and ultimately undermine the fabric of the nation. We commend the President for requesting significant increases in both Title 1 and IDEA to improve outcomes for students with disabilities, address inequities in school funding systems, and provide historically underfunded schools with the resources they need to ensure a high-quality public education for all students.  

We are especially pleased to see the President request $1 billion for a new program explicitly intended to address the workforce shortages in school psychologists, counselors, and social workers to better meet the mental and behavioral health needs of students. Improving students’ mental and behavioral health is essential to supporting their successful learning and well-being. This formula program would ensure every state has access to resources address current shortages. Specifically, it will enable states to establish university partnerships to help recruit and prepare students to enter a school mental health field and provide districts with resources to help them implement evidence-based recruitment and retention strategies to improve the ratios of students to school mental health professionals. NASP has fought long and hard to increase federal investments in efforts to improve access to school psychologists and school psychological services. Doubling the number of school psychologists and other school mental health professionals will require collaboration among state education agencies, institutions of higher education, local education agencies, and state and national professional organizations This proposal is a significant step in the right direction, and NASP looks forward to working with Congress in making investments to end workforce shortages a reality. 

NASP represents 25,000 school psychologists throughout the United States and abroad. NASP empowers school psychologists by advancing effective practices to improve students’ learning, behavior, and mental health. NASP is committed to working with the Administration and Congress to ensure that FY22 federal appropriations maintain critical investments in education to provide a high-quality public education in an environment that is safe and supportive for all students.

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