Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:
In Mr. Lippincott’s editorial published Jan. 24, he spoke about a bill he proposed in this year’s legislature, LB1065. This bill would allow school districts to hire chaplains, but Mr. Lippincott does not fully explain in his editorial what that would look like. 
In his article he states that it would allow chaplains to provide “support, services, and programs for students as supplied by the school board.” What is not stated in the article but is clearly stated in the bill is that he wants to authorize schools to hire chaplains to replace the duties of school counselors. 
It appears that Mr. Lippincott does not know what a school counselor does, nor did he reach out to the school counselors in his legislative district to see what insight they could share. The role of a school counselor has changed significantly over the past 30 years. It is not solely counseling, but also includes providing academic support, college and career readiness and planning, and other assorted job duties. 
Look up any school counseling program and there are classes about analyzing data, teaching models, classroom management strategies, human development, special populations like the world of special education, and data-driven comprehensive school counseling programs. 
Conversely, a Master of Divinity or other pastoral degree traditionally does not include school counseling-related courses, as there are cavernous differences between these two professions.
It is disappointing to see Mr. Lippincott proposing a bill that can impact public schools without thinking through if it will bring benefit to the very buildings and students he thinks he is helping. I would hope Mr. Lippincott can find the time to actually reach out to his constituents and learn what school counselors do and the role they play in each building.
Jake Willems
Aurora