Rep. Polis Calls For Increased Student Support Services In Schools

Press Release

In honor of National School Social Workers week, March 1-7, U.S. Rep. Jared Polis helped introduce legislation in Congress Thursday to increase the number of school counselors, school social workers and school psychologists in qualified schools in low-income communities.

"School social workers, school counselors, and school psychologists play an important, major role in our nation's education system," said Polis. "Unfortunately, as we have seen in Colorado, schools in underserved communities suffer disproportionately from a lack of these critical services. Without their support, our already overworked teachers are forced into double duty, leaving them less time to devote to our children's education and achievement."

Family conflicts, poverty, stress, domestic and community violence, and substance abuse often prevent students from succeeding in school. Although research has shown that student support services are effective in addressing these barriers to learning, our nation faces a major shortage of qualified, credentialed, school-employed professionals. While the recommended student-to-counselor ratio is 250-to-1, the national average is 479-to-1 and Colorado's ratio is 544-to-1.

The Increased Student Achievement Through Increased Student Support Act, cosponsored by Congressman Polis, proposes grant funding for university-school district partnerships designed to increase the number of school psychologists, school counselors, and school social workers in low-income schools. It focuses on supporting the social, emotional, behavioral and mental health needs of students, with a special focus on children who have been involved with the criminal justice system, foster children, violence-exposed youth, and children of military families.

Dr. Stacy Skalski, Director of Public Policy for the National Association of School Psychologists and Idaho Springs resident, offered her support: "Many students struggle to stay focused because they are distracted by family, learning, or mental health problems that teachers alone cannot address. They need the help of student support personnel like school psychologists, counselors and social workers who are trained to lower barriers to learning so that students are ready to learn. Through the university-school partnerships supported by these grant funds, rural mountain or ranching communities and inner city schools will have a greater ability to recruit and retain these important professionals."

"This bill would improve the quantity and quality of student support services where they are needed most, to help the children who need them most," said Polis. "By addressing the lack of these much-needed professionals in our nation's under-served schools, we can proactively increase teacher recruitment and retention and enhance the overall quality of our student's education."

As a former Superintendent and Chairman of the State Board of Education in Colorado, Congressman Polis has made education reform, from preschool through college, a pillar of his policy agenda. He serves on the House Education and Labor Committee, where he is working to ensure that every American student learns the skills and knowledge necessary to compete and thrive in today's global economy.

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