Dear, US Department of Education

We demand increased funding for public schools in under resourced communities. This will directly target the lack of mental health support in underfunded public schools. Every student no matter their race, socioeconomic status, or background should not be disadvantaged in life, and not receive proper mental health support from their public school system.

Many underfunded public schools lack mental health support in their schools. These schools are populated by minority students, and these schools are often in areas where toxic stress occurs at higher rates. Students are vulnerable to these stressors because of the lack of support they have access to.

If students have access to school psychologists they will be able to mitigate these stressors. This is important because it will increase classroom productivity, academic excellence, and will increase the number of positive outcomes created by our public education system. 

This petition seeks that the US Department of Education requires every public school have one school psychologist for every five hundred students.

Sources

https://www.childrenstreatmentcenter.com/2025/02/05/helping-children-manage-and-overcome-toxic-stress/
https://slate.com/technology/2016/05/the-stress-low-income-kids-experience-affects-their-brains-biologically-as-well-as-psychologically.html
https://www.labxchange.org/library/pathway/lx-pathway:a0ae3918-1fab-4176-8c66-d08cac315868/items/lb:LabXchange:b4d7541c:html:1/55532
https://ciswh.org/school-to-prison-pipeline-public-health-crisis-for-youth-of-color
https://www.nami.org/advocacy/policy-priorities/improving-health/mental-health-in-schools/
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2024-02-19-why-schools-still-struggle-to-provide-enough-mental-health-resources-for-students