Advocacy Act

Last week, I was talking to my son's case manager. She is a social worker, who functions as a social worker, school counselor, and case manager for our school district's 3 elementary schools. She was telling me that due to budget cuts there was talk about letting either her or the other school counselor go. This would mean that there would be only 1 counselor for 3 separate schools. That is a lot of children for one person to be able to effectively help. I was appalled, to say the least. After that I've been trying to think of ways to keep this from happening. I was looking around the ACA's public policy website and noticed their "Take Action" button. Imagine my delight, when among several options, was one for "Saving School Counselor's Jobs". There is a link to a letter to the House of Representatives and the Senate asking them to include a $23 billion Education Jobs Fund in the emergency appropriations bill. (Say that 5 times fast) I should say that I am a big armchair activist. I love that I can send letters to senators from my computer, and that it is so incredibly easy. I don't understand why there are so many cuts being done to education lately, especially in our state. I find its setting us up for failure. How can we expect our children to thrive if an essential part of their growth is cut? School counselors play such a vital part in healthy emotional growth for children. A child is learning about their emotions and how to display them in a productive manner. Taking away school counselors puts a huge burden on teachers, who already have a huge burden to begin with! There is a lack of respect for the importance of our educational system. The idea that getting rid of school counselors is appropriate shows a lack of education, responsibility, and a large amount negligence on the part of our administration. That is why I am going to send this letter, and do what small part I can to try and stop this.