U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., has introduced a bill to create federal grants to hire guidance counselors for secondary schools with dropout rates of 40 percent or higher.

The legislation would instruct the Department of Education to start a demonstration program authorizing $6 million a year for four years to help the schools hire the counselors. The first five schools chosen to participate would each be located in a different state. At least 10 schools would participate in the demo project.

American public secondary schools have an average counselor-to-student ratio of one to 476. Mr. Casey said his legislation would help benefiting schools to achieve ratios of one to 250, as recommended by the American Counseling Association.

“One of many challenges secondary school counselors face today is ensuring that every student receives the individualized support he or she needs,” Mr. Casey said in a statement. “Low-performing secondary schools need our help to make sure they have enough counselors on staff so all students are given the opportunity to succeed.”

The senator said the measure is chiefly designed to address dropout rates in underperforming schools. Some of the money provided by the program would go toward identifying students at risk of not graduating on time.
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