California School Counselor - Winter 2008 - (Page 7)

Letters to the Editor “I think it’s important that we don’t get so hung up on testing and accountability, which is where we are now, that we stop making connections for students about what they are learning and how it’s going to help them in their lives. “We are looking at what we have to do from a teaching point of view, and that is to make sure they do well on tests, but to kids testing is just something we impose on them. What they are looking at is: What is going to happen to me when I grow up? Why do I have to study? Why do I have to take this class? Why do we have to learn this?” Barbara Nemko, Napa County Superintendent of Schools (Th anks to Michael Gangitano, Lee Middle School Counselor, Woodland, CA for this timely quote.) Therapy worked very hard to defeat the bill. Their interpretation of the bill put enough doubt into the senators’ minds that it was easier for them to vote no than yes. Since the senators are not mental health professionals, they rely on those in the established professions to advise them. We did have the support of the California Psychiatric Association and the Board of Behavioral Sciences and the neutrality of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, so the support and opposition was split, leading to the confusion. We did try to meet the opposition’s concerns, taking many amendments, but in the end, they were more interested in protecting their turf than allowing professional counselors to be licensed in California. Thanks to All Who Supported the Bill Hundreds of counselors wrote letters, contacted their legislators, and sent contributions to support the expenses of sponsoring legislation. Th is support was phenomenal! Our author’s oﬃce, our lobbyists and our witnesses in the committee hearings did an amazing job. Counselors in the CCCL Advocacy Network, who were assigned to each senator and assembly member, deserve everyone’s thanks for their persistent advocacy. Counselors on the CCCL board deserve special thanks for contributing their time and expertise on a monthly basis over the past six years. We could not have come as far as we have without the support from state and national counseling associations, especially the American Counseling Association and the National Board for Certiﬁed Counselors. It is very disappointing that all these eﬀorts did not produce the results that we needed. Legislative Update AB 1486, the Counselor Licensure Bill, Has Died With the Sept. 19 agreement on a state budget, all hope of the Legislature hearing our bill vanished. The bill only needed one more vote in the Senate Appropriations Committee, and that committee agreed to reconsider the bill. The ﬁscal analysis clearly indicated that the measure would not require any new state dollars. We worked very hard to explain our complicated bill to the senators and might have had that needed vote, but time ran out. The Senate Rules Committee did not rule on our request for the bill to be heard again in committee, and so it never reached the Senate ﬂoor. depression and come to acceptance, we will most likely introduce a bill in the next legislative session, beginning January 2009. Th is is how other states have ﬁ nally gotten their bills passed. It is unfortunate that counselors, who are waiting for this license in order to practice their profession in California, volunteer their expertise in a disaster, or work with veterans returning to California, will have to wait another year. The eﬀorts and ﬁ nancial contributions of counselors in California have brought us so close to the goal this year. We hope that we can count on that support to continue next year, for we will need help in getting to know 25 percent of the Legislature that will be elected this November, and we will need the ﬁ nancial resources to mount our campaign for a new bill in 2009. It would be very encouraging to receive contributions to CCCL at P.O. Box 6493, Ventura, CA 930066493. Paypal is available on the website www.caccl.org. Counselors who would like to help with next year’s eﬀort to get a counselor licensure bill passed can let us know how they can help at info@caccl.org. ■ The Opposition The California Psychological Association and the California Chapter of the American Association of Marriage and Family Looking Forward Once we get through the denial, the anger, the bargaining, the The California School Counselor | winter9/6/08 12:27:00 PM 2008 7 397942_Bay.indd 1 http://www.caccl.org http://www.opticalschools.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of California School Counselor - Winter 2008

California School Counselor - Winter 2008 Contents Presidential Perspectives Jackie’s Jottings Executive Director’s Report Creating Possibilities Through Language The Six C’s Orange County Counselors Form Book Review Legislative Update Research CASC’s 2008 Leadership ASCA Announces Hughes Middle School Memory Tips for School, Work and Life California Commission on Teacher Credentialing Releases Statistics on Pupil Personnel Services Credentials Technology Tips Pics, Clicks and Technics Calendar Index to Advertisers

California School Counselor - Winter 2008

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