ASHA Takes Action: Urging Congress to Protect Vital School Health Data – And How You Can Help!
In a unified effort to safeguard student well-being, leading school health organizations have co-signed a Joint School Health Advocacy letter urging Congress to maintain crucial funding for school health initiatives and vital data collection. Reinforcing this collaborative stance, the American School Health Association (ASHA) is also taking direct action, dedicated to ensuring every student can learn and thrive in a healthy school environment. A cornerstone of this mission is robust national data that allows us to understand, identify, and effectively address the health needs of students across the nation.
Recently, ASHA sent a formal letter to the House Education and Labor Committee; the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions; and the Senate and House Appropriations Committees voicing strong concerns about proposed funding cuts that threaten critical adolescent and school health data collection initiatives. Programs like the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBS) and School Health Profiles provide indispensable information for states, districts, and local schools.
Why This Data is Crucial:
- Early Warning System: These national surveys help us detect emerging student health issues and monitor trends in areas like physical activity, nutrition, mental health, and safety.
- Informed Decision-Making: The data allows educators, health professionals, and policymakers to make evidence-based decisions regarding curriculum development, health programs, and policy implementation.
- Effective Evaluation: Standardized data collection enables us to assess the effectiveness of school health programs and identify best practices that can be replicated nationwide.
Your Voice is Needed Now!
ASHA believes that reducing funding for these data collection efforts is detrimental to our students' well-being and our collective ability to support them. We strongly encourage our network of school health professionals, educators, and concerned community members to join us in advocating for the continuation of this vital data collection.
Take Action Today:
- Contact Your Representatives: Reach out to your members of Congress to share your perspective. Explain how school health data informs your work and benefits the students in your community.
- Find your U.S. Representative: https://www.house.gov/representatives
- Find your U.S. Senators: https://www.senate.gov/senators/index.htm
- Share Your Story: Personalize your message. Explain the real-world impact of this data – how it helps you identify needs, implement programs, or advocate for resources in your school or district.
- Spread the Word: Encourage your colleagues and other stakeholders to also voice their support for school health data.
ASHA is committed to advocating for policies and resources that support student health. We thank you for your dedication and for taking action on this critical issue. Together, we can ensure that data continues to drive our efforts to create healthy and successful learning environments for all students.
ASHA’s Advocacy 101 on Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model
ASHA developed this primer on advocacy so its members can learn strategies to become effective champions for school health at the local, state, or federal level. ASHA focuses on supporting a Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) informed school, providing important considerations to be made in preparation of taking action. This resource provides ASHA members with examples and resources to support advocacy efforts. Together, ASHA, its members, and all healthy school champions are a strong voice for students, educators, families, and the broader school community.
ASHA Activates!
We want to hear your school health advocacy success stories!
Advocating for school health is crucial to the mission of ASHA to transform all schools into places where every student learns and thrives. We are interested in your stories of successful advocacy around school health issues. We would like to highlight your positive experiences to encourage and activate school health advocates at the local, state, and national level. Share your story here!
