126th Morrison Congress

2nd Session

S. 126-006

Title of the Bill: Equal Access to Guidance Counseling Services

Main Author(s): Sen. Phoebe Han

Co-Sponsor(s):
Senate Floor Action on 12/7/2015

BE IT ENACTED BY THE MORRISON CONGRESS

1 SECTION 1: Findings
2 Congress makes the following findings:
3 1) ASCA recommends a student-to-student counselor ratio of 250:1. Only 3
4 states meet that recommendation. (i)
5 2) The nationwide average student-to-counselor ratio is 491-to-1. (ii)
6 3) High-poverty schools have an average of 1.3 full- and part-time counselors
7 per school (iii)
8 4) Almost 850,000 students have no access to a counselor at all. (iv)
9 5) NACAC revealed that public-school counselors can only devote 22% of their
10 time on college counseling while counselors at private schools devote 55% of
11 their time on it. (v)
12
13
14 SECTION 2: Purpose
15 This bill provides that a larger amount of government funding is allocated to ensure
16 public high school students have equal access to counseling services.
17 :) (Wo Amendment)
18
19
20 SECTION 3:
21 General Provisions
22 To reaffirm the commitment of the United States in its promotion of higher education
23 for all students, no matter their background (Scott Amendment).
24 To assist low-income students (who may not have access to [academic] (Chou
25 Amendment) counseling services on their own and first generation high school
26 students who need guidance with the college application process.
27 Appropriate public school budget to make room for the salaries of the additional
28 counselors as outlined in the bill (Scott amendment)
29 Adjust the student-to-counselor ratio to be 250:1. (Han Amendment)
30
31 SECTION 4: Definitions
32 1) ASCA: The American School Counselor Association
33 2) NACAC: National Association for College Admission Counseling
34
35
36
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Works Cited:
1) https://www.txdemocrats.org/our-party/texas-democratic-party-platform/
2) https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/09/the-neglected-link-in-the-high-
school-to-college-pipeline/500213/
3) http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.543.5670&rep=rep1&type=
pdf
4) https://internationalcollegecounselors.com/the-high-school-counselor-shortage-proble
m-2/