Nickels in a Dime: Diminishing Returns on Investing in School Counselors

• In Event: Let the Fire Burn: A 10-Year Retrospective on Public School Reform in Philadelphia

Abstract

In 2013 the school district made the decision to lay off all school counselors in the district due to budget constraints. Ten years later we are seeing a residual effect of school counselors having to put out fires that were set as a result of layoffs and bad policies that didn’t have counselors in mind from the onset. On this panel, Lawson will reflect on the professional status of political pawn while trying to meet students’ and families’ socioemotional needs, as well as seeking to prepare students for their postsecondary lives. Lawson will also examine the role of school counselors in the afterlife of the closures and layoffs as they also traverse COVID-19. Lawson will pay special attention to how these actions and inactions have impacted Black students in SDP, which are the majority of students she serves in her roles.

Author

• Melissa Lawson, The School District of Philadelphia