Students and families across Michigan are in crisis. We are struggling from two years of pandemic learning, anxiety, bullying, and on top of it all the fear of school shootings. 

We are tired. We are sad. We need real solutions. We need real support. 

We can’t sit back and let those in power continue to invest 1 billion dollars in school policing over the last 20 years rather than increasing investment in mental health resources for students. Every shooting since Columbine has led to increased investment in school police and School Resource Officers (SROs) yet a recent report by the School Policing Research Policy Collaborative and Federal School Discipline and Climate Coalition found no evidence that SRO’s lessen the severity of school shootings. 

In addition, the report states the investment in school police “has not improved school safety.” Rather, school policing is linked to serious negative outcomes for our nation’s students, especially students of color.

Recently, Michigan’s legislature increased the allocation for School Resources Officers by 40 million dollars. Michigan students don’t need more police and strategies that don’t increase our safety. 

We need investments in counselors and psychologists at our schools. We need preventative strategies to address our mental and emotional wellbeing including investments in a diverse and honest curriculum. 

The latest federal data for the 2019-2020 school year showed that Michigan averaged 671 students for every counselor.  Only one other state, Arizona, had a worse ratio. 

The American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of 250 students for each counselor. 

400 of Michigan's 900 schools don’t even have a full-time counselor. Even worse, the ratio of school psychologists in Michigan - according to data from the National Association of School Psychologists - is 1521:1.  

Terri Tchorzynski, President of the Michigan School Counselor Association, states “ What it boils down to is that we don’t have enough professionals in our buildings to proactively help students” He states : the short is caused by a lack of funding, not a lack of availability”  

As students and families across Michigan, we are asking you to join us in telling the Senate appropriations committee to: 

1. Eliminate HB 5522 recommendations to increase School Resource Officer funding by 40 million dollars.
2. Add 100 million dollars of funding to go to school counselors and psychologists.

We need you to be brave just like we have to be each time we walk into our school buildings. We deserve to feel safe in school and that can only truly happen if our schools have counselors and support staff that we know and build relationships with.