At Urban Dove TEAM Charter School in New York, 16-year-old Lia Rivero describes an education system that feels designed to fail students like her: \"There's no counselors in my school. It's really bad.\" Her frustration echoes a nationwide crisis exposing racial disparities in US education, where underfunded schools serving majority Black and Latino students face critical shortages of support staff.
Data from the US Department of Education reveals schools with predominantly students of color receive $23 billion less annual funding than white-majority districts. The ACLU reports 14 million students attend schools without adequate counselors, with majority-Black schools 55% more likely to lack mental health resources.
\"This isn't accidental neglect – it's systemic disinvestment,\" explains Dr. Amira Carter, education equity researcher at Howard University. \"Counselors bridge academic gaps and foster career readiness. Their absence perpetuates cycles of inequality.\"
Recent civil rights investigations found schools in marginalized communities funnel limited resources into security infrastructure rather than student support services. Meanwhile, legislative efforts like the proposed Counseling Not Criminalization Act face political gridlock.
For Lia and millions of students, the human impact is immediate: \"Nobody's encouraging me to do anything here,\" she says, her voice cracking. \"We need someone to believe we're worth the investment.\"
Reference(s):
The Race Gap in the U.S.: There's no counselors in my school
cgtn.com
