State senator says Florida schools need more counselors
/ Monday, January 7, 2013
Florida schools do not have enough guidance counselors to help students cope with their problems and prepare them for life after graduation, according to one prominent state legislator.
As Florida lawmakers discuss adding more money to public schools in 2013, State Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, is advocating some of that go towards adding more school counselors.
Detert said many schools do not even have a dedicated counselor, while others are pressing them into lunchroom or bus duty. In many schools, there is just one counselor for every 1,000 students. Detert said that just is not acceptable. Detert said counselors are often a last line of defense in helping troubled teens, and schools need to have them focused on that job.
“We need to have counselors who at least know all the students in the senior class,” Detert said.
Detert has proposed a bill, SB 154, that would require school districts to have one school counselor for every 300 students.
