Friend –

As many schools across the country return from summer break in the coming weeks, let's talk about the lived reality that far too many students are facing right now:

Currently, 14 million students are in schools with police but no counselors, social workers, nurses, or psychologists. This leads to young people being over-criminalized, harassed, and targeted in schools every year. In fact, our most recent data shows that over 229,000 students had cops called on them in schools across the US – and those students were disproportionately Black and Brown youth with disabilities.

Our lawmakers can and must put a stop to the harmful policing of our students, and the Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act (CNC) is one crucial way to do so.

This vital legislation diverts tens of millions of dollars in federal funds from police in schools and invests in our students by establishing a $5 billion grant program to help hire mental health personnel and other trauma-informed and evidence-based supports instead. And by urging your member of Congress to co-sponsor CNC today, you can help ensure it becomes law as swiftly as possible.

ACLU Supporter, students should be able to focus on learning rather than fearing being put in handcuffs. Having police in schools also simply does not make sense – and the data shows it:

• Schools that received federal funding to hire more police experienced decreases in both graduation and college enrollment rates.
• Meanwhile, schools that employ more school-based mental health providers see improved attendance rates, lower rates of expulsion, suspension, and other disciplinary incidents, and improved graduation rates.

It's clear: we must divest from school police and invest in proven school-based support and mental health services for our students: Tell Congress to co-sponsor CNC today.

Thank you,

West Resendes
Pronouns: He, him, his
Skadden Fellow, Disability Rights Project, ACLU