Readers React: Hiring more school counselors can help close the achievement gap

To the editor: Thank you for illustrating the difference between schools that are adequately staffed with professional school counselors and those that are not. (“These 2 teens with similar backgrounds took very different paths to college,” May 12)

The national recommended student-to-counselor ratio is 250-to-1, but California lags woefully behind at up to 950-to-1, depriving the state’s youth of much needed guidance during key stages of development and decision-making.

We in California’s universities are training highly qualified professionals to fill these needs — school counselors who specialize in providing academic, career, personal and college preparation services in a model that prioritizes social justice.

The gap that exists between K-12 students in this state is wide, yet part of the answer to this problem is simple: Hire more school counselors.

Tovah Sands, Woodland Hills

The writer is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling at Cal State Northridge.

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To the editor: Thank you for your important article describing the “college counseling gap” between students in Los Angeles.

While a four-year degree is not a goal for some high school graduates, at least two years of post-secondary education is now a basic requirement for good jobs in construction, manufacturing, transportation and human services. College counselors should make students aware of the many career options available with training at our public community colleges, where students can also take the liberal arts classes that help them become fully integrated into the dominant culture.

With improved communication between workforce development planners and counselors, young people will have more educational choices, leading to meaningful careers that earn livable wages.

David L. Crippens, Los Angeles

The writer is chairman of the Los Angeles Trade Technical College Foundation.

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