Minnesota ranks second-lowest in counselors per student

By Joe Cadotte, FOX 21 News

DULUTH - If a Duluth elementary student needs to talk, a non–partisan research group fears there may not be someone to listen.

There are no counselors at any elementary public schools in Duluth, leaving social workers to play both roles. And Minnesota 20/20 says that's just the tail end of the complex problems resulting from ten years of state and federal budget cuts.

They say Minnesota ranks 49th in counselor to student ratio. “The kids who say 'I'd like to talk to the counselor but the counselor's not in his office; he's proctoring a test upstairs. So I guess I just won't talk to anybody, even though I'm pregnant or my parents are abusive or something like that,'" said Minnesota 20/20 fellow John Fitzgerald.

Minnesota 20/20 is presenting its research at schools around the state, and trying to raise awareness of the issue.