MN Headlines: Counselors Speak Up and a New Minnesota Apple
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:17 pm By Chris Shields
More news about Minnesota 2020’s latest report kicks off your Thursday roundup:
Mankato Free Press: Counselors need freedom to counsel
“But due to a number of factors, Fredrickson’s contact time with students has shrunk over the years while his administrative duties have increased.
And according to the latest report from Minnesota 2020, a non-partisan, progressive Minnesota policy think tank, school counselors around the state are experiencing a similar situation.
“This has to change,” said Fredrickson in reaction to the MN 2020 report, which not only detailed a statewide lack of counselors but also a shift of counselors’ time away from students services.
“I don’t want people to take this lightly.”
Minnesota 2020 based its report on the fact that, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, Minnesota ranks 49th among 50 states in terms of student-to-counselor ratio. Minnesota’s average ratio is about 800:1; the national average is about 476:1; and the ratio recommended by the American Counseling Association is 250:1.”
KAAL: Counselor Crunch in Local Schools
“It starts with the budget.
“The only way we’re going to have a quality education system is if we invest in it and it’s clear that if you’ve got 800 to 1 student to counselor ratio, you’re not investing in education,” says John Fitzgerald.
Governor Pawlenty deferred nearly 1.8 billion dollars from K-12 education through the 2011 school year.
Minnesota 2020 says as the budget shrinks so does the staff levels.
Meaning counselors have more work to do with less.”
KEYC: MN Group Say Budgets Cuts Affecting School Counselors
“Bill Frederickson is one Mankato school district’s counselors.But in recent years he’s found himself doing less counseling.And worries the trend will only get worse for students and for teachers.Frederickson says, “As counties have lost money, and they’ve cut back on services, as it’s more and more difficult to get private services for those areas, the truth is many times they’ve fallen upon schools, and teachers and counselors to provide those services.”
KQDS: Minnesota ranks second-lowest in counselors per student
“If a Duluth elementary student needs to talk, a non–partisan research group fears there may not be someone to listen.
There are no counselors at any elementary public schools in Duluth, leaving social workers to play both roles. And Minnesota 2020 says that’s just the tail end of the complex problems resulting from ten years of state and federal budget cuts.”
AP: Apple growers set to release Honeycrisp successor (via MPR)
I’ll believe this one when I taste it.
MinnPost: Target shoppers coming back but spending less
LikeTags: Apples, Education Funding, School Counselors, Target
