The Crisis of Counselors

By: Caitlin Clift

When a public school’s counselors are so notoriously overworked that the norm is to go out of one’s way to hire a private counselor, you know there is an issue with public education funding. Counselors should not have to be viewed as a special good, only accessible if one has the money and privilege– they should be present and accessible in every public school and every student. Yet, this was not my experience. My public school had six counselors for almost 3,000 students. That is, nearly 500 students per counselor. Unfortunately, this is the norm in California. According to the American School Counselor Association, California schools have an average of 527 students per counselor, which is more than double the recommended ratio of 250-to-1! With 500 or more students per counselor, this results in counselors not knowing the names of each of their students, not understanding what is going on in their lives, and, ultimately, not being able to truly do their job. It was nearly impossible for me to schedule meetings with my counselor. I can recall waiting outside my counselor’s office for all of lunch simply to ask her a question about my classes, only to have to leave defeated and unsuccessful. Of course, she was too busy dealing with the other 499 or so students she was responsible for. Meetings with my assigned public school counselor always felt rushed, unfinished, and unproductive. As a result, many of my friends and I resorted to private counselors—a privilege that most could not afford, or even knew about for that matter. Counselors, both for mental health and academics, play a vital part in educating and supporting our kids. Our public schools deserve better funding and resources to provide to all students, this not only impacts students themselves, but their families, local communities, and the economy. Overcrowded, underfunded public schools should not be the norm in the state with the fifth largest economy in the world. We need education funding and we need it now.