#FSCA Advocacy – Use Your Voice
Critical legislation related to the Governor’s action plan passed the Senate and the House and was signed by the Governor on Friday, March 9th, 2018 as the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act. The details of the legislation and the implementation plans are in the developmental stages and ambiguous at this point, but implications are that school districts will play a critical role in decision making and planning at the local level.
During the legislative session, FSCA board members and school counselors from across the state joined together for our FSCA Day on the Hill to visit Senate offices and sit in on the House debate of the Public Safety Act. The 2018 Florida School Counselor of the Year, Larissa Bennett, was recognized with the Governor’s Shine Award. We appreciate efforts to date to contact legislators and encourage ALLschool counselors to continue to advocate for our profession. As the implementation plans are formed, we need to use our voices and be a part of this work.
Knowing that legislators and district leaders will be making critical decisions on the funding and implementation of the Public Safety Act, we encourage all school counselors as certified personnel who are trained to recognize preK -12 students’ mental health needs to connect with legislators, state and district leaders.
- School Counselors across Florida need to schedule appointments with state legislators when they return to their home districts over the coming months (April, May, June). This link will help you find contact information for your Senate and House legislators.
- We need to let our local district leaders (superintendents, school board members, principals, other supervisors and administrators) know what we do and how we make a difference for students and families. Invite local leaders to your school to see your work firsthand. Here are some advocacy documents (FSCA Advocacy Flyer SC, and School Counselor Advocacy) that can be used to support your conversations.
- If you cannot schedule a face to face visit, call your legislators or district leaders and tell them directly about the role you play in supporting student development and the need for 80% of your time to be spent in direct service to students. (See the Talking Points document.)
- Continue to send emails or letters from your personal email account. FSCA leaders have written sample templates that you can copy and modify for legislators or for use with local education leaders. Sample SC Ltr is specific to school counselors. If you are an advocate of school counseling, use Advocate Ltr #1 or Advocate Ltr #2.
We will continue to provide advocacy updates and work to be involved with planning committees and implementation groups. We ask that you continue to use your voice for our profession by contacting your legislators, as well as district leaders, to share our role in schools and use your data to educate on the impact we have and how we can meet the needs of even more students and families given appropriate ratios and use of time.
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