[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 128 (Saturday, August 4, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1765]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               REDUCING BARRIERS TO EDUCATION ACT OF 2007

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                          HON. DAVID LOEBSACK

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 3, 2007

  Mr. LOEBSACK. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Reducing 
Barriers to Learning Act of 2007. Students come to school with diverse 
academic and non-academic needs. A student may have trouble reading, or 
have a chronic health condition or a disability. Students may have 
hearing problems or problems with their eyesight. They may have 
behavior problems. Some children may have experienced a tragedy or have 
family problems. They may live in poor conditions or be subject to 
violence in their homes or communities.
  It's abundantly clear that many students face severe barriers to 
learning. In order to reduce these barriers and help our children 
succeed in the classroom and in the community we must find a way to 
positively affect their social and emotional well being. A child is 
only prepared to learn when he or she is healthy and strong, both 
mentally and physically.
  Unfortunately, 20 percent of the 53 million children in school will, 
at some point, meet the criteria for a diagnosable mental illness at a 
level of impairment that requires some type of intervention. Thus, 
there is the potential that over 10 million children will need some 
type of help to meet the goals relating to emotional well-being in the 
No Child Left Behind legislation.
  The school can be an important site where the health and education 
risks of students may be identified. Early identification and 
intervention addressing a student's social and emotional health is 
essential. Many important services are provided by school counselors, 
nurses, psychologists, social workers, therapists, and many others. 
These individuals, commonly referred to as pupil services personnel, 
are lifelines to our children.
  Unfortunately, very little attention is paid to these personnel and 
the services they provide for struggling students. In fact, there is a 
shortage of school mental health positions. Current recommended ratios 
are 250 students per counselor; 400 students per social worker; and 
1,000 students per psychologist. Unfortunately, reality does not match 
recommendations. Current national averages are 488 students per 
counselor and over 1,600 students per school social worker and 
psychologist.
  In Iowa, during the prior school year, 40 districts out of 365 did 
not have a school counselor. The State legislature recently 
reconstituted the mandate that every district have ``a'' counselor and 
included goal language that staffing levels work toward no more than 1 
counselor for every 350 students. The ratio of students per school 
social worker is 2000 to 1.
  These shortages jeopardize a schools ability to provide broad-based 
mental health services to students. Unfortunately, very little 
attention is paid to these personnel and the services they provide for 
struggling students. This appears to be largely a reflection of a lack 
of leadership at the national, state, and local level.
  The Reducing Barriers to Learning Act of 2007 takes necessary steps 
toward increasing student access to critical services so that we can 
better address the nonacademic needs of students and reduce barriers to 
learning.
  The bill creates a grant program for State Education Agencies to 
build the capacity of Local Education Agencies to develop programs and 
personnel dedicated to removing barriers to learning. These grants will 
help recruit and retain coordinators at the local level; establish and 
expand instructional support services programs; and provide technical 
assistance regarding the effective implementation of instructional 
support services programs.
  The bill also establishes an Office of Specialized Instructional 
Support within the U.S. Department of Education. This office will 
administer, coordinate, and carry out programs and activities concerned 
with providing specialized instructional support services in schools. 
The office will provide technical assistance to State education 
agencies and State specialized instructional support coordinators, if 
any. It will also improve cross-agency coordination of services and 
programs supporting students who face barriers to learning.
  Finally, the bill simply clarifies conflicting terminology, 
definitions, and roles of specialized instructional support personnel. 
The personnel are known as ``pupil services personnel'' in the ESEA and 
as ``related services personnel'' in the IDEA, despite the fact that 
they are exactly the same professionals. This difference in terminology 
continues to cause confusion for school districts. Establishing one 
common statutory term would ease this confusion and would more 
accurately reflect the nature and purpose of the services that these 
professionals provide to students in schools.
  Knowing who is available to support struggling students in schools is 
essential. Connecting students in need with a professional who can 
assist them and be accountable to them is the only way to know that we 
will leave no child behind. The Reducing Barriers to Education Act of 
2007 will take necessary steps toward increasing student access to 
critical support services and I look forward to working with my 
colleagues to pass this important legislation.

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