PHILADELPHIA — As Shira Smillie begins the task of completing her college applications, it’s likely that she will not look to her school’s guidance counselor for help as she navigates the daunting process.
“I probably won’t have access to my counselor,” said the 17-year-old honors student who attends Central High School, one of Philadelphia’s best public schools.
Over the next few months, she will send off a handful of applications to a number of colleges including the University of Pennsylvania, Spelman, Howard and the University of Pittsburgh. “I’ve been proactive in getting a head start on things, but I still want to be able to talk to someone about the process. It can be confusing.”
Smillie, who will be the first in her immediate family to attend college next year, has every reason to be alarmed. In the wake of staggering state budget cuts, the six full-time counselors who had been assigned to provide services to the nearly 2,400 students at her high school has been reduced to just two, leaving Smillie and other graduating seniors with having to figure out the complicated admissions process all by themselves.
The shortage of guidance counselors is the latest in the ongoing fiscal crisis that has haunted the city’s public schools. Over the past few years, thousands of parents have abandoned the school system altogether and have opted instead to enroll their children into charter schools or relocate them to the nearby suburbs. In addition, federal budget cuts have cost the city $130 million in aid, forcing school officials to close 24 schools over the summer. More than 4,000 employees were initially laid off but were subsequently invited back to work after the state provided $50 million in emergency funds last month, shortly before the schools opened.
