NASP Advocacy Action Week
NASP is hosting an Advocacy Action Week from July 20-24th, focusing school psychologists across the country on federal advocacy for our students and our profession.
Please join WSASP on Facebook and here at the WSASP Advocacy Action Center website as we guide you through a variety of activities to connect with your federally elected officials through social media, sending letters using the NASP Advocacy Action Center, and even sharing a video expressing what issues are facing School Psychologists today! With our colleagues across the country we will make sure decision-makers in the ‘Other Washington’ hear our voices!
This week we will advocate in 3 ways:
Social Media Posts
You can choose to write your own statements using the hashtags: #NASPAdvocates #WSASPAdvocatesToo #waleg #waedu #waelex, or use these sample statements
(PRO TIP- when recommended to tag your elected officials, you can find their social media information on their individual web pages under contact information or by searching for them on social media, for easy reference, our state senators are Senator Patty Murray is @pattymurray, Senator Maria Cantwell is @mariacantwell. Be sure to look up your elected representative as well!)
● In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the social unrest due to police brutality and racism, mental health in schools is more important than ever. I hope my representatives in Congress (tag representatives) agree and will support legislation to put qualified mental health professionals in schools! #NASPAdvocates #WSASPAdvocatesToo #waleg #waedu #waelex
● As a school psychologist who works with kids every day, I have seen firsthand the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic and unrest has taken. The need for more of us is serious and must be met. I urge my congressional representatives (tag representatives) to pay attention to this issue! #NASPAdvocates #WSASPAdvocatesToo #waleg #waedu #waelex
● Our schools that need our support the most continue to be underfunded, year after year. Enough! We need Congress invest funding into Title I, Title IV-A, and IDEA so we can finally provide a quality public education for our kids. #NASPAdvocates #WSASPAdvocatesToo #waleg #waedu #waelex
● 1 in 5 students will experience a mental health disorder, but 80% of students who need support do not receive it. We need more school mental health professionals to identify and help our kids. Help me help kids (tag representatives)! #NASPAdvocates #WSASPAdvocatesToo #waleg #waedu #waelex
● Washington has an average of 1 school psychologist to ever 992 students, with a range from 1 to 530 all the way up to 1 to 3,500! This must result in inequitable access to services for our students. Help me create a pipeline for more school psychologists into Washington's schools! #NASPAdvocates #WSASPAdvocatesToo #waleg #waedu #waelex
● Post this image about our average ratio with the following hashtags in the text #NASPAdvocates #WSASPAdvocatesToo #waleg #waedu #waelex
Contact Your Representatives
Access the One Minute Solution to send letters to all of your federal representatives in less than 1 minute!
Create a video!
See the NASP guidelines for creating a video, including a sample script, here. You can send your video to NASP so they can use it in their advocacy efforts, then you can post it on social media using this text:
I made this video for my representatives in Congress (tag representatives) to urge them to support legislation to put more school psychologists in classrooms. #NASPAdvocates #WSASPAdvocatesToo #waleg #waedu #waelex
Video example: President Alex Franks-Thomas, NCSP
Video example: GPR Co-Chair Carrie Suchy, NCSP
