Blog
CASC and ACLU to Launch Campaign to Decrease School Counselor Ratios in California
- By: CASC
- On: 07/10/2019 13:53:25
- In: CASC Blogs
For the past year CASC has built a strong partnership with the ACLU of California to launch a campaign to increase the number of school counselors working in California schools.
Our core ideology is that school counselors in every school is a student's civil rights issue. We believe all California students at every level deserve a school counselor who can address students' unmet mental health needs, increase career and college access, and provide academic supports. This campaign comes at the heals of the ACLU report released at the beginning of 2019 outlining school districts' over-dependence of police officers at the peril of limited support service staff. While school counselors ratios are better now than in last 30 years (622:1), we still have a long ways to go to reach the national average of 482:1 and the recommended average of 250:1. Our work this year will involve many of you when we do both grassroots organizing and state legislative advocacy. This is one of those rare opportunities commensurate with the work CASC did in 2006 to pass Assembly Bill 1802 that provided 200 million dollars in funding for school counselors.
To this end, members of the CASC campaign team thought we could poll our members to solicit ideas for campaign slogans. We are hoping many of you will complete a brief survey with your ideas. As a token of our appreciation, selected winner(s) will receive our newly released mug. CASC is looking for a slogan that would serve as a tagline to express the importance of school counselors. This slogan will reach people throughout California and consequently needs to resonate with our role in students' lives. An example of a slogan is "Every Child Counts," and "School to Prison Pipeline." It is catchy and easy to remember. Great slogans must be stated strongly, must be memorable and yet simple, must be stated in beneficial terms and create a feeling. What message will we convey to set school counselors apart, or draw attention to our importance to caregivers, school board members, the general public, etc.?
According to the book "Creative Advertising" by Charles Whittier: "A slogan should be a statement of such merit about a product or service that is worthy of continuous repetitive advertising; is worthwhile for the public to remember; and is phrased in such a way that the public is likely to remember it."
CASC appreciate your thoughtfulness in this matter. Only collectively can we truly make a difference. Click here to submit your ideas.