Minnesota Has High Ratio of Students Per Counselors

ST. PAUL  (AP) - School officials in Minnesota are raising concerns about the shortage of counselors available to students in the state's classrooms.

The Minnesota Association of School Counselors says the average ratio of students to counselors in the state is about 800 to 1. That ratio puts Minnesota second to last in the U.S.

University of Minnesota professor of counseling, Kay Hertling Wahl, says the lopsided ratio makes it difficult for counselors to be effective in dealing with depression, addiction or bullying.

State law doesn't require schools to put counselors, social workers or psychologists on staff. That's up to administrators in each school district. There are dozens of school districts in Minnesota that don't have any counselors.

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