Every week at All Saints Church we put our faith into action. This week we are asking people to sign a petition to the Governor Newsom and other California officials urging them to prioritize student mental health, counseling and arts programs in the 2021 state budget.
There’s no question that the COVID-19 pandemic has upended our daily life. In school, for instance, students across California struggle with remote learning that is impacting their academic performance and mental health.
But even before the pandemic, our state leaders have consistently neglected to make student mental health a priority. California remains 48th in the nation when it comes to student access to school counselors. In fact, there are twice as many police as there are counselors in our schools.
The state has also underfunded arts education despite its proven benefit to academic performance and stress and anxiety relief. Only four out of 10 California students are enrolled in arts courses, one of the lowest rates of enrollment in the nation.
This petition supports a letter sent earlier this year from a variety of organizations representing California youths and advocates for youths to the governor and other state officials asking them to provide holistic supports to help students recover from the pandemic and thrive by investing in school-based mental health, arts education, and other critical resources.
