Friday, November 07, 2014

Reminder to take the OPPAGA Survey!

Important: Deadline for Survey is November 14th!

Florida School Counselors:

If you were a school counselor in Florida during the 2013-14 school year, you should have recently received a critically important survey from OPPAGA that was sent via email.   

So you are all informed, having the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) conduct this survey for school counseling is a first and important step for our profession in the state.  This office only takes projects as directed by state law, the presiding officers, or the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee and because of the prestige and credibility this office holds in Tallahassee, the results and a strong response rate are important. Results will be used for ‘next steps’ to garner support and potential legislative action (bills) to support school counseling.

Folks… this is YOUR FUTURE… Although we can’t predict exactly what may result, we do know from the advocacy work these past few years and the time spent in conversations with legislators and the governor’s office, that this information will be extremely helpful in efforts to support and expand school counseling across the state. The survey you received yesterday is one of a number of steps FSCA is taking to garner state-wide support for our profession.

We encourage you to complete the survey. Additionally, because legislators ask how many school counselors are members of FSCA, having a strong membership base is important. If you can, please join FSCA. http://www.fla-schoolcounselor.org/

If you believe should have received a survey and did not, please contact Kim Shafer at shafer.kim@oppaga.fl.gov or 850-717-0530 so that she can provide you with a unique link for completing the survey.  Keep in mind that survey links are unique and should not be shared with others.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.  Please feel free to contact any of us with questions.


Carolyn Berger 
FSCA Board Chair    
   
Rebecca A. Schumacher                     
FSCA, Immediate Past President                                          
rebecca.schumacher@unf.edu                            

Peg Reale
FSCA, Asst. Chair & Advocacy Chair 
realema@collierschools.com 

Thursday, September 04, 2014

FSCA Advocacy Update - September 4, 2014

  
September 4, 2014
With the help of Senator Nancy Detert and with the signature of Senate President Gaetz, the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability (OPPAGA) has been assigned to study and produce a report to the Legislature regarding the utilization and availability of Counselors in our Schools in Florida. This is a very exciting time for FSCA as we should finally have the documentation that has been lacking and created a roadblock to our much needed legislation to improve ratios for school counselors.

What can FSCA members do to help? We all need to meet with our Florida legislators or their aides, both representatives and senators, and talk to them about what we do every day! Our experience has been that they are not familiar with our profession and our unique role in schools. Sharing personal stories and situations help them to get an understanding of what we do and how we impact student achievement.

Exciting things are happening at the national level, as well, focusing attention on the important role of school counselors!
  • In the First Lady Obama’s address at the American School Counselor Association’s Annual Convention in Orlando early July, she announced THREE significant initiatives for school counseling.  This is an article from the Huffington Post that overviews the intiatives: Click here to read article. One of those initiatives occurred Monday, July 28 at Harvard (see more on this initiative below).
  • Harvard Graduate School of Education, in partnership with the White House, hosted a summit to discuss strategies to increase access to college. This summit focused on the important role school counselors play in college and career readiness. Take a few minutes to read the article and watch the Harvard Summit.  

Stay tuned for more advocacy updates to come. We look forward to working on these efforts in 2014-15!

Sunday, March 02, 2014

FSCA Advocacy Update - March 3, 2014

  
March 3, 2014


Good Advocacy news:

FSCA now has a bill filed in the House by Representative Mark Danish, HB 1139, to accompany the Senate Bill 902 filed earlier this month by Senator Detert.


Last week, five FSCA Advocacy Team members joined Carole Green in meeting with over 10 Senators and Representatives, plus Mr. McGhee in the Governor’s office. In our meetings, we distributed the “2014 handout for the hill” and discussed the importance of school counseling programs/counselors impacting students in our state. We were warmly and I would say, enthusiastically received by most of the representatives.  
 photo

Being out of the starting gate now with both the senate and house having bills filed, I want to encourage you to take some “next steps”:

1) reach out to your colleagues and associates in your area of the state to encourage them to contact legislators asking for support of these bills, and

2) meet and communicate with your representatives. I am very hopeful that this bill will pass this year; and with such strong potential of providing critical evidence for the need of more school counselors to deliver and impact children, this bill will be a win-win for the work we do for children.


Thanks so much…

Becky Schumacher

FSCA President

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Florida School Counselor Association Advocacy Committee members in Tallahassee today

Florida School Counselor Association Advocacy Committee members in Tallahassee today working for you!

Click to enlarge:



Thursday, February 13, 2014

You can help advance school counseling in Florida right now ...


February 12, 2014
 
You can help advance school counseling in Florida right now ...
Senate Bill 902 has been been filed! The purpose of this bill is to ensure that public school students in this state have access to high-quality, evidence-based school counseling programs. The bill establishes a Blue Ribbon Panel Task Force that will study the impact school counselors have on the classroom, and this bill supports a grant program to help schools hire additional counselors. The purpose of the task force is to study whether there is a demonstrable relationship between expanding counseling resources in public schools and early detection of mental health issues in students, improved academic performance and student attendance, higher graduation rates, and decreased behavioral disruptions on the part of students. The Blue Ribbon Panel will also be tasked with making recommendations for the Florida's School Counseling and Guidance Framework.

How You can Help.
The time is now to contact your Representatives and Senators and let them know that, as their elected officials, you expect them to look out for the new bill when it is introduced and that they should support it. Let them know about how important school counseling is to student success, graduation rates, school safety, and Florida's economic future. 
Download this handout on Effective ways to Communicate with your Legislators.
Take a couple of minutes to thank Senator Detert for her unwavering support and sponsorship of this bill. Her contact info is here.

Advocacy is very expensive. If you are currently a FSCA member, we thank you for your support, this work could not happen without you. However, we can do more. If you are receiving this and are not a current member, please enroll now. One hundred percent (100%) of member dues funds our mission and goals, a large part of which is advocacy. Click here to renew a membership or here to enroll as a new member. Also, we hope to see you at the 2014 Convention where we will have presentations about advocacy and, of course, much more.

Updated FSCA Advocacy Platform. FSCA maintains an Advocacy platform, take a few minutes to have a look.
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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Last week the House and Senate approved an omnibus spending bill for FY14

News from ASCA

Last week the House and Senate approved an omnibus spending bill for FY14, which the president signed on Jan. 17, 2014. ASCA is pleased the bill will level-fund the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program (ESSCP) at $49.561 million. Although we're disappointed Congress didn't restore the recent sequester cuts, we realize the preservation of this program, despite the current fiscal climate, is a step in the right direction. The FY14 funding for ESSCP is a direct result of your advocacy to save the program.

In addition to the ESSCP funding the omnibus included an increase of $28.516 million ($90 million total) to the Safe and Drug Free School Communities and National Programs. Exact guidance on these funds has not been released, but the program references comprehensive school safety and school climate initiatives. ASCA will be sure to keep membership notified if this proves to be further opportunities for increased school counseling services.

What happens next? The U.S. Department of Education will hold a grant competition for the next round of ESSCP grantees; this typically happens around August. ASCA will notify members of the grant announcement via social networking sites, the ASCA website as well as e-mail blasts. Stay tuned.
Sincerely,


Amanda Fitzgerald, Director of Public Policy
American School Counselor Association

phone: 703-683-ASCA



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