A study was performed by the Office of Education Accountability for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and a report was issued on November 20, 2019, Report #465, in which the counselor-to-student ratio in the public school system was addressed.
Most importantly, this study found that there are no actual statutes requiring the school system to follow the recommendations made to it by the State in regard to counselor's in schools. While the State recommends at least one counselor in each school, ideally a counselor-to-student ratio of 250-1, and recommends that these counselors spend at least 60% of their time directly with students - further provisions for time, funding, and employee availability are made that then alleviate the requirements, creating a loophole for the school system in which the counselor-to-student ratio is then not met.
There is no research necessary to determine that teaching jobs have taken on more roles than that of an educator. They are now the first line of defense for these students in mental health crises, behavioral and domestic issues, and in some occasions, against violence itself. Increasing pay and benefits may aide some, but the underlying needs of the students that are going unaddressed are the actual root of the issues that are now laying burden on our educators.
I think it is often underestimated the trauma children today face. Instead of reading handwritten letters written during war, they have seen war real-time on social media and television. Kentucky has the highest rate of child abuse in the nation, and these children experience PTSD long before they know the definition. Kentucky is the fourth poorest state in the nation, children are going home hungry. The drug epidemic has taken many of their parents. It is obvious that the children in Kentucky need counselors; they need therapy; they need for us to be their advocates and assure they are provided the mental healthcare they desperately need.
These needs aren't being addressed. Their reactions and coping mechanisms are not being taught in a healthy manner. If the appropriate counselor-to-student ratio for each school were met, and the children in Kentucky were given the opportunity to heal from their trauma as they grow and learn as opposed to being punished and cast aside due to the overwhelming position the teachers hold and the little time remaining they have to address issues better met by a professional, I believe the school environment, as a whole, would improve, leading the way for better job quality, employee retention, student behavior and overall increased learning potential.
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