Advocating for School Counseling: Standing up for Students
Counseling services are a necessity in schools – not an extra that can be cut. Indeed, the Institute of Medicine recommends that mental health and psychological services “be considered mainstream, not optional, services,” and states that these support services are “essential to enabling many students to achieve academically.”
Your participation is needed to stand up for kids by supporting school counselors and the beneficial impact they have on student learning. Assuring the academic success and well-being of all students in Minnesota is central to the mission of educators and the hope of parents. Assisting state decision makers by providing data-driven outcomes ensures the integrity needed when balancing student needs with financial realities.
The purpose of this website is to provide resources and support for those wishing to advocate for school counseling. Each voice that communicates with public school stakeholders on how school counselors are demonstrably a part of student achievement and success can make a difference in assuring that every child has the support needed to reach their full potential.
| increased Awareness of how School Counselors make a DifferenceStake holders and decision makers in education often have very little awareness to who school counselors are and what they do. |
Need for Increased Funding of School Counseling Services Within an environment of diminishing resources, school boards are having to consider eliminating crucial base programs impact students and their opportunities to learn. This discouraging irony highlights how districts across the state have to consider the level of education they are willing to settle for. |
| Need for State Mandated School Counseling Services Minnesota, unlike many states, does not mandate K-12 school counseling services. |