Guidance Counselors: Unsung Heroes in Education

As I stood in line outside the High School Guidance Office at 1 PM the week before school started, I was visibly upset. The reason was simple: my schedule for the year wasn't done. I didn't have a 3rd or 4th hour. So, I waited for 30 minutes...45 minutes...1 hour – and when I finally reached the “screening point” (where they made sure I had a legitimate scheduling concern), I was told to come back the next day at 7 A.M. if I wanted to even have a chance of seeing a counselor. Unfortunately, I had work the next day. So I emailed my counselor and got a response about what classes I would have 3rd and 4th hour. Yet, I still did not know who my 3rd and 4th hour teachers were.

Needless to say, I walked in the first day of school frustrated and fairly upset with my counselor. Though I resolved the scheduling issue later that day, it did not diminish my sense that I had been short-changed by the system. But it wasn't long before I realized that I was not the only one. In fact, students all around me complained of waiting in long lines from 7-11 A.M. and not even getting to see a counselor.

I am sure some in education would blame this on the guidance counselors' supposed lack of competence. But I would beg to differ. In fact, throughout the four years I have known my guidance counselor, he has always done his job well – whether that be setting up a college fair for parents and students, or whether that be helping students work through issues, both scheduling and otherwise. I can say with confidence that the same is true of the other counselors as well.

Yet, there are definite issues with the current system, and they go beyond scheduling. They go to the root of what the basic role of a school counselor should be. Should they simply be advisors, helping students do what they need to graduate high school and get into college? Or should they counsel students who are struggling in other ways and need emotional assistance? This is a real choice that our counselors face. They simply don't have the time to do both jobs and do them well.

I will make the argument, just as others have, that we need more counselors. I will make the argument that though times are tight in the district, the counseling department has had to sacrifice a disproportionate amount in the era of “shared sacrifice.” But I will also argue that we need to find ways to do scheduling more efficiently, whether that means doing the little things like sending out schedules online rather than printing them out for every single student, or whether it means hiring a part-time scheduler to take some of the burden off of our counselors. The fact is that cuts to the counseling department have put more of a burden on counselors, teachers, administrators, and most of all, students.