[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 39 (Thursday, March 5, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INCREASED STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH INCREASED STUDENT SUPPORT ACT

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                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 5, 2009

  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the ``Increased 
Student Achievement through Increased Student Support Act,'' which 
Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, Congressman Polis and I proudly 
reintroduced today. This bill will increase the number and availability 
of school counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists 
in qualified urban and rural low-income districts.
  More and more we are finding that schools in underserved communities 
suffer disproportionately from a lack of support services, with many 
schools sharing only one social worker, school psychologist, or school 
counselor with neighboring schools. With this poor ratio of personnel 
to students, it is difficult to effectively and adequately address the 
needs of students, leaving the important job of monitoring the child's 
emotional and mental wellbeing to the teacher. When teachers are left 
to address these issues on their own, they have less time to deliver 
quality instruction and raise student achievement. It is not surprising 
then, that low-income schools experience high teacher turnover and 
frequent complaints of inadequate support. In fact, in our urban, 
public schools in 2003-04, 30.2 percent of teachers reported student 
acts of disrespect for teachers on at least a weekly basis and 18.5 
percent reported student verbal abuse of teachers on at least a weekly 
basis.
  To address these social and behavior issues, students require the 
attention of school counselors, school social workers and school 
psychologists.
  For these reasons, along with Congresswoman Linda Sanchez and 
Congressman Jared Polis, I am reintroducing the Increased Student 
Achievement through Increased Student Support Act. This legislation 
will create funding to form partnerships between higher education 
institutions that train school counselors, school social workers and 
school psychologists and qualified low-income schools, placing these 
student support professionals where they are needed most.
  I urge my colleagues to support the ``Increased Student Achievement 
through Increased Student Support Act'' to ensure quality education for 
our children nationwide.

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