Support SKILLS Act
This letter is for ALL those concerned about education. The SKILLS Act, otherwise known as the Strengthening Kids' Interest in Learning and Libraries bill is up for a vote in Washington, D.C. within the next two weeks.
In this age of NCLB (No Child Left Behind Act), librarians are the profession that provides students with the opportunity to acquire and practice the skills of information location, access, and use using both print and electronic resources. Librarians are often the only constant staff member that a student encounters through their elementary, middle and high school years. They have the opportunity to build a strong rapport with students in this hectic world we live in. Librarians teach not only reading, writing and arithmetic (Dewey Decimals), but encourage and foster a love of reading for joy of a good story. We reach out to students who are at the fringes and help them find themselves in literature to see they are not alone. Librarians teach students the skills needed to allow them to gather information needed when they have a question about a topic that is personal and use those research skills in life after graduation. However, there are very few school districts in York County that employee a full-time "highly qualified" school librarian in every building.
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Please contact your national representatives and request they vote for the SKILLS Act. The world economy is driven by information and our nation's economic status will only remain strong if our workforce has the necessary skills and abilities to locate, access and use information to problem-solve and create new end products. Education is a way of paying forward what our vision for tomorrow is, mine includes a future that is literate, can solve problems using information in a variety of formats to create solutions that society needs. What's yours?
Deborah Hoover
Manchester
I have included some information to help explain the legislation (House Bill H.R. 2864 and Senate bill S.1699) and a link that can be used to contact representatives.
SKILLS Act:
1. Requires schools districts, to the extent feasible, to ensure that every school with the district employees at least on "highly qualified" school library media specialist (librarian) in each school.
2. Defines highly qualified school library media specialist (SLMS) as those who have a bachelor's degree and obtained full state certification as a SLMS in library media in such state. [PA School Library Association is trying to close the gap that does not require classes, merely passing the PRAXIS - much the same way the Reading Specialists did several years ago.]
3. Establishes as a state goal that there be at least one highly qualified SLMS in every public school no later than the beginning of 2010-11 school year.
4. Broadens the focus of training, professional development, and recruitment activities to include SLMS.
5. Ensures the funds will serve elementary, middle and high school students; and
6. Requires books and materials to be appropriate for and engage the interest of students in all grade levels and students with special learning needs, including English-Language Learners (ELL).
Here are some facts that can be used to back-up the need:
1.Multiple studies have affirmed that there is a clear link between school library media programs that are staffed by a SLMS and student achievement (Keith, Curry, Lance Study). Across the U.S., research has shown that students in schools with good school libraries learn more, get better grades, and score higher on standardized test scores than their peers in schools without libraries.
2. Long regarded as the cornerstone of the school community, school libraries are no longer just for books. Instead, they have become 21st century learning environments offering a full range of print and electronic resources that provide equal learning opportunities to all students, regardless of the socio-economic or educational levels of the community -- but ONLY when they are staffed by SLMS trained to collaborate with teachers and engage students meaningfully with information that matters to them both in the classroom and in the real world.
3. Only about 60 percent of our school libraries have full-time, state-certified SLMS on staff. With limited funding and increased focus on school performance, administrators are trying to stretch dollars and cut funds across various programs to ensure that maximum resources are dedicated to improving student achievement and the library gives you the best bang for your buck IF there is a highly qualified SLMS employed as well.
4. Because NCLB does not highlight the direct correlation between SLMS and increased student academic achievement (most PSSA questions have several 1.8 Info Lit standards embedded in them) library budgets are increasingly being used to mitigate the effects of budgetary shortfalls.
5. NCLB currently lumps school librarians with other such non-instructional costs as school nurses and bus drivers. Not that they aren't important jobs, but information is what drives the world economy and the skills to access and use information are crucial.
6. School libraries serve the entire school population and provide the district the best bang for its the taxpayer's buck when developing a sound collection.
The American Library Association has set-up a link that will connect you with your representatives and provide some letter templates to use (http://www/capwiz.com/ala/home ). I strongly encourage you to contact your representatives by mail, e-mail, phone call or personal visit to communicate your support for the SKILLS Act. Or "google" your representatives and use their e-mail links to send a message you compose yourself. Personalized messages do send a stronger message.
Check with your local school district about their librarian staffing levels, you might be shocked.
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