Gabby Giffords to Sec. McMahon: Meet with parents of school shooting victims, undo $1 billion in cuts to school mental health

WASHINGTON — Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, founder of the national gun violence prevention organization GIFFORDS, sent an urgent letter to Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Friday May 9, calling on her to meet with the parents of kids killed in school shootings, and restore the $1 billion in school mental health funding that was cut by the Trump administration in April. The funding was allocated by Congress in 2022 via the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a historic effort following the tragic shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde,Texas where 19 children and two teachers lost their lives.

“School-based social workers, psychologists and counselors often serve as both frontline caregivers and first responders when a student is in crisis. Cancelling funding that kids rely on with no backup plan does not make students safer, healthier or better able to learn,” wrote former Congresswoman Gabby Giffordsin her letter to McMahon. “Everyone wants kids to be safe in school. But I have serious concerns that your department’s recent cuts have made our nation’s classrooms significantly more dangerous. I ask you to reconsider before it’s too late.”

In Giffords’s letter to McMahon, she invited her to meet privately with families of students who have been killed in school shootings to discuss how these now defunded programs could help prevent future violence. These cuts were preceded by $811 million in grant cuts to community violence intervention programs across the country and were followed by more than $400 million in budget cuts to the ATF, the only federal agency dedicated to stopping gun crime.

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