President’s Letter: At the Table, Not on the Menu

One of my favorite sayings is, “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” I can’t recall when I first heard this, but it is believed to have originated around 2000 in Washington, D.C., and is of unknown origin. According to Dr. Joyce Johnson, it means that if you are not represented at the decision-making table, you are in a vulnerable position, you get left out, or, worse yet, you are on the menu. This saying applied to the school counseling profession in the late 1990s when I first started and, unfortunately, it still applies today.

This fall, education associations across Washington state bargained for additional funding because of the McCleary ruling. In several districts, negotiations included discussions of adding school counselors or protecting school counseling positions. Washington uses a prototypical funding model to decide the minimum allocation for school counselors. Beyond that, it is up to school boards, superintendents and administrators to decide how best to deploy resources and allocate staff.

This is not a message about being involved with your educational association, although that is certainly important.

It is a message that school counselors must advocate for their value in implementing a comprehensive school counseling program. We must all demonstrate the effectiveness of our school counseling programs in measurable terms to show how students are different as a result. Then, we must bring this information to the table and share it with our administrators, teachers, parents/guardians and educational associations. We need to do this consistently, not just during bargaining or other crucial times. Finally, we must speak with one voice by pushing and supporting colleagues to also implement comprehensive programs. If we can do these things, perhaps we can finally (and permanently) get off the menu.

Contact Brian Mathieson, Ed.D., NBCT, WSCA president, at brianmathiesonwsca@gmail.com or on Twitter at @MathiesonBri.