The New England Association for College Admission Couseling (NEACAC)is encouraging legislative support for school counseling and career and college readiness in Massachusetts. Jon Westover, senior associate director of freshman admissions at University of Massachusetts Amherst and NEACAC Government Relations Committee chair, is leading the advocacy effort.
House Bills 470 (An Act Establishing a School Counseling Leadership Pilot Project to Accelerate College and Career Readiness in Massachusetts Public Schools) and 471 (An Act to Assure College and Career Readiness through Six-Year Career Plans for all Massachusetts Public School Students) are bills that support the work of school counselors in assisting students with post-secondary planning.
Massachusetts members of NEACAC and members of the Massachusetts School Counselor Association (MASCA) received an email asking them to visit the NACAC Legislative Action Center to take action by contacting their state legislators in Boston. So far, 79 members have sent 166 messages to the Hill. The Action Alert is available in the NACAC Legislative Action Center.
A hearing for HB 470 and HB 471 is scheduled for October 27, 2009. The bills are not expected to come to vote until 2010.