ACA UPDATE: Good News / Bad News on Federal School Counseling Support
There is good news on federal support for school counselors and school counseling services!
According to recent statements by the U.S. Department of Education (ED), funding under the stimulus bill (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) can be used to save school counselors' jobs. The stimulus bill includes billions of dollars in funding to shore up state budgets and avoid staff cuts, and constitutes the biggest one-time federal investment in K-12 education ever. ED staff have stated that stimulus funds disbursed to states through the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and Title I programs can be used to support school counselor positions.
ACA urges school counselors to educate their colleagues, administrators and officials—at the school, district and state levels—to use these stimulus funds to save school counselors' jobs and their crucial services. Many school administrators and staff are not aware that stimulus funding can be used in this fashion.
Unfortunately, there is also some potentially bad news to report. The administration has released its fiscal year 2011 budget request to Congress, and is proposing to eliminate the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program (ESSCP) and other targeted initiatives. In their place, ED proposes a new “Successful, Safe, and Healthy Students” program that would establish measurements to enable States, districts, schools, and partners "to assess the need for, direct the provision of, and provide the resources and supports necessary for safe, healthy, and successful students."
While ACA supports the stated goals of the proposed program, we are very concerned about the potential elimination of ESSCP, as it is the only program devoted to supporting school counseling programs and services. School counseling does not yet enjoy the recognition and support it deserves in state and local education agencies, making it important for federal education policy to provide a dedicated funding stream to create and expand school counseling programs.
In 2009, school districts in 29 states serving nearly 430,000 students obtained new grants to establish or expand school counseling programs and services in schools.
Congress will have the last word on ED's proposals, and ACA is working with partner organizations to ensure school counselors are heard at the federal level and that ESSCP is maintained. But we need your voices! Please send your school counseling success stories to Dominic Holt at dholt@counseling.org or call Dominic at 800.347.6647 x 242.
Your advocacy makes a difference! Thank you so much!
Dominic W. Holt, MSW, MFA
Legislative Representative, American Counseling Association (ACA)
Co-chair, National Alliance of Pupil Services Organizations (NAPSO)
Reprinted courtesy of ACA; ACA e-mail Update March 4, 2010
