A Story Told: Organizing School Social Workers to Serve in the Public Schools of San Antonio, Texas

This article recounts how a loosely knit group of school social workers in San Antonio, Texas, organized themselves to survive and thrive in settings unfamiliar with their professional capacities and the mission of the profession. The context in which school social work is conducted in this Southwest metropolitan area is described, as are the steps and efforts taken by the participants to move from an informal activity to a formal organization that advocates for their interests. The article describes issues of salary, compensation, resources, philosophical obstacles, and advocacy on behalf of the profession in school settings. The authors hope that “telling the story” of this effort will inspire and encourage other communities of school social workers to work in similar ways to strengthen the presence, value, and influence of the profession in public schools in other parts of the country.