Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that
ever has. (Margaret Mead, 1970)
Click Here for the latest Legislative News Update
New: Grant Opportunity!
How To Contact Your Elected Officials
from your NYSSCA Government Relations Committee
First Things First!
Find out who represents you by going to www.assembly.state.ny.us and www.senate.state.ny.us and providing your address/size code. Representatives split their time between Albany and their local offices. You can obtain their local addresses,
access their individual web pages, contact them via e-mail, look up committees and bill information, and find out what’s going
on in the State Legislature at these websites.
Letter/E-mail Format
You can write to your Assemblyperson, Senator, Education Committee chair and/or members in both the Assembly and the Senate and any sponsors of bills that you may be supportive of. Here are some tips to improve the effectiveness of your letter:
- Salutation should read, “Honorable Senator/Assemblyman/Assemblywoman (state the name),”
- State your purpose upfront. If the letter pertains to a certain piece of legislation, identify it that way by using the bill number or title.
- Stick to one issue. Be concise and brief; at most, one page.
- Be courteous, use examples to support your position, include personal experiences when appropriate.
- Ask legislators to do something (like support a Bill) or thank them for what they did do.
- If you disagree, tell him/her why, yet always be polite and respectful.
- Refer to your organization and/or school area.
- Write legibly or type your letter.
- Provide your name, title (School Counselor), email and address in the message.
- Contact the office if you have not received a reply within six weeks.
Mailing addresses for Albany
Senate: Honorable Senator (NAME) Assembly: Honorable Assembly Member (NAME)
New York State Senate New York State Assembly
Legislative Office Building Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247 Albany, NY 12247
State Legislative Action Alert:
The following bills are current in the 2009-2010 Regular Session. There are many bills that would impact the role of the school counselor and services/programs available for our students. The follow two bills, however, have the most direct impact on school counselors throughout NY.
- Bill A-4183 - This bill would add a new section 803-b to the Education Law to require at least one full-time certified or licensed school counselor in any elementary, intermediate, middle or junior high school. Assemblyman Felix Ortiz has been instrumental in initializing and maintaining the efforts of this bill. If Ortiz is your Rep, do call or write to thank him for his dedication as well as the Bill’s co-sponsors (P Rivera, Greene, Robinson, Jacobs) and its multi-sponsors (Cusick, Koon, Lupardo, Towns & Wright). It was referred to the Education Committee, chaired by Catherine Nolan, in January 2010. This bill has been introduced annually since 2001. There is no corresponding Senate bill at this time.
- Bill A-1259 - This bill would add a new subdivision 3 to Section 4605 of the Education Law to provide a minimum number of certified school counselors be employed by each school district of the state in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of Education which set numerically a ratio of school counselors to students. The bill also requires that any person newly employed as a guidance counselor shall be duly certified as a school counselor. This bill was introduced by Colton, co-sponsored by Cymbrowitz, Cook and Jacobs, and multi-sponsored by Millman, J. Rivera, P. Rivera, and Towns. It was referred to the Education Committee in January 2010. This bill has been introduced annually since 1997. There is no corresponding Senate bill at this time.
As school counselors we need to show our support for these bills and educate our representatives on the following important issues:
Our NYS certification is “School Counselor”, not guidance counselor.
- The accepted ratio of school counselor to student is 1:250 as supported by both the American School Counselor Association and the New York State School Counselor Association.
- The “Children’s Plan” introduced by the NYS Office of Mental Health in October 2008 stated, “school districts need to implement social and emotional development programs at the elementary and secondary levels as prescribed in paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 3 of the Children’s Mental Health Act of 2006.” School counselors are uniquely qualified to provide these programs.
- If you’d like to participate on the NYSSCA Government Relations Committee, email Gloria Jean at GloriaAJean@aol.com.
