Changing the Stigma of Mental Illness

Play video: The InformED Report: Episode 22 (1 minute 27 seconds)1:27

The InformED Report for January 30, 2017 looked at a national grant to build career pathways in high schools and at Oklahoma’s low grade in Education Week’s annual Quality Counts report. It then crossed to Britain, where Prime Minister Theresa May promised to reduce the stigma of mental illness, including in schools, and critics replied that words were not enough. The spotlight went to federal guidance on how schools must support homeless children under the Every Student Succeeds Act.

In this edition

• Louisiana and Oklahoma were among 10 states awarded three-year, $2 million New Skills for Youth grants from JPMorgan Chase and the Council of Chief State School Officers.
• Oklahoma ranked 47th in Education Week’s Quality Counts report, with a D+ and a score of 68.3 against a national average of 74.2.
• Theresa May announced measures to reduce the stigma of mental illness, saying funding alone was not the answer; letter writers in The Guardian argued words were not enough.
• U.S. Department of Education guidance explained new ESSA protections for homeless students, including preschool-aged children.

Career education grants for Louisiana and Oklahoma

The Council of Chief State School Officers and JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced on January 11, 2017 that Louisiana was one of 10 states to receive a three-year, $2 million grant in the second phase of the New Skills for Youth initiative, KATC reported. The money is meant to strengthen and expand career-education pathways for high school students. Governor John Bel Edwards said the grant would help teachers and students reach high-quality workforce training, “particularly in rural school districts and in support of our students with disabilities.”

Oklahoma was also among the 10 states selected. For district leaders in those states, the grants offered a chance to connect high school courses more closely to local employers and workforce training.

Oklahoma’s D+ in Quality Counts

Oklahoma started 2017 near the bottom of Education Week’s annual Quality Counts report, ranking 47th in the nation, ABC Tulsa’s Franque Thompson reported. The state earned a D+ overall, scoring 68.3 out of 100 against a national average of 74.2. It received a D for school finance, a C for chance for success and a D for K-12 achievement.

Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Deborah Gist called the grade a painful reflection of the state’s budget crisis. “We have been for the last three years the state that has cut the most from education compared to any other state in the country,” she said, adding that low funding made it hard to pay teachers enough to keep them in Oklahoma. Quality Counts combines many indicators into a single grade, so it is best read as a broad comparison rather than a precise measure, but its finance score pointed to the same pressure Oklahoma’s superintendents described.

Theresa May and the stigma of mental illness

In Britain, Prime Minister Theresa May said the government would announce measures to reduce the stigma around mental illness, The Guardian’s Andrew Sparrow and Peter Walker reported. She noted that a colleague with an arm in plaster gets sympathy at work, while “if you have a mental health problem, people are more likely to try to avoid you.” The plans included a review of workplace support, faster digital mental health services and improved services for schools. “Money is going into mental health, but it is always wrong for people to assume that the only answer to these issues is about funding,” she said.

Not everyone was persuaded. In letters to The Guardian, a retired child and adolescent psychiatrist wrote that mental health difficulties had grown in the six years since deep cuts to public and preventive services. Teachers, she argued, could often already recognize mental health issues but lacked the time and expertise to intervene, and identification alone would not help unless resources followed. The exchange framed a question that school leaders in any country would recognize: training staff to spot a problem is a start, but students also need somewhere to be referred.

InformED Report spotlight: ESSA protections for homeless students

The spotlight went to guidance from the U.S. Department of Education on the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youths program, as reauthorized in the Every Student Succeeds Act, Education World reported. The new provisions took effect on October 1, 2016, and the guidance was issued to help states and districts understand their responsibilities.

Under the amendments, schools are required for the first time to identify homeless children and youth and to make sure preschool-aged homeless children receive the services they need. Schools must coordinate with outside agencies, such as family courts and public housing providers, to work out what support a student needs. They must remove enrollment barriers and provide transportation through the end of the school year, even if a student becomes housed. The Department also asked schools to check that attendance and discipline policies did not disproportionately punish homeless students. For principals and district homeless liaisons, the guidance turned a broad federal promise into a practical checklist.

Further reading from that week

• The Huffington Post (UK): Teachers Must Be Supported To Put The Mental Health Of Young People First
• The Telegraph: Every secondary school in England offered mental health training in bid to end ‘stigma’ and help children
• MassLive: Gov. Charlie Baker talks education, mental health hospital reforms and veterans’ tax credits in State of the State speech

Sources

• “Louisiana Awarded $2 Million to Improve Career Education,” KATC, January 2017.
• Franque Thompson, “Oklahoma scores D+ on national report for education quality,” ABC Tulsa (KTUL), January 4, 2017.
• Andrew Sparrow and Peter Walker, “We will reduce stigma around mental illness, says Theresa May,” The Guardian, January 9, 2017.
• Letters, “Words are not enough to tackle the crisis in mental health,” The Guardian, January 10, 2017.
• Education World, “U.S. Department of Education Releases Guidance to Clarify ESSA Provisions Designed to Protect Homeless Youth,” 2016.

About the InformED Report

The InformED Report is edCircuit’s short news program on education. This edition first ran on January 30, 2017. In 2026, edCircuit re-presented it with a new anchor and this full written account. Both report the stories as they stood on that date and link the original reporting, so readers can see exactly where each claim came from.

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