IOWA CITY, IOWA (March 16, 2019) — We’ve just been made aware of the Iowa statistics in a recently released ACLU report: Cops and Counselors: How the Lack of School Mental Health Staff is Harming Students. They’re disturbing and we wanted to share with the media.
Key findings:
- Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of students in Iowa attend schools that have police but lack either a counselor, social worker, psychologist, and/or nurse. This is higher than average.
- Iowa is among the 10 worst states for arresting Black, Native-American, Pacific-Islander, Latino, White, and Asian students at school.
- In Iowa, Black girls are 9 times as likely to be arrested in school than white girls, the second-worst arrest risk in the country.
- 125 Black students per 10,000 Black students were arrested at school in Iowa — more than any other state in the country in the 2015-2016 school year.
- Between the 2013-14 and 2015-16 school years, reported school-arrests in Iowa increased 105 percent.
- Iowa is not meeting the recommended student-to-counselor ratio by the American School Counselor Association.
- Recommended student-to-counselor ratio: 250:1
- Iowa’s student-to-counselor ratio: 378:1
- Iowa has the highest student-to-social-worker ratio in the nation. For every 8,973 students, there is only one social-worker provided in schools.
- Recommended student-to-social-worker ratio (by the School Social Work Association of America): 250:1
- Iowa’s student-to-social-worker ratio: 1:8,973
- 125 Black students were arrested at school in Iowa — more than any other state in the country in the 2015-2016 school year.
You can see the report in full at:
