Education Reform Won’t Spare Washington’s School Librarians

Education Reform Won’t Spare Washington’s School Librarians

Basic education reform came to the state of Washington May 19 with the signing by Gov. Christine Gregoire of a bill (PDF file) that adds a credentialed, but not necessarily funded, teacher-librarian in every K–12 school to the definition of what constitutes a basic education. The bill calls for the phase-in by FY2018 of formula-based state support of school library media programs. The timing was wrought with irony, however: Several weeks earlier lawmakers had responded to the nation’s ongoing economic crisis by slashing $1 billion in state aid to education for FY2010, triggering the reduction in force of several thousand teachers—among them school librarians—throughout Washington State.

The basic education law quotes the state constitution provision that “it is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders” without designating a funding source to realize the goal. Nonetheless, educators and parents in the Bellevue School District were particularly stunned in mid-May by the news that officials were reassigning all secondary-school librarians to classroom duties as part of an effort to avoid dismissing tenured teachers. Noting that the cut was called for “in Bill Gates’ backyard”—a reference to the Microsoft founder’s residence being in the district—Fund Our Future Washington cofounder Lisa Layera Brunkan told American Libraries, “If that can’t make a broader audience aware of what’s happening, what can?” Brunkan, along with parents Susan McBurney and Denette Hill, have been championing the importance of library media programs since 2007 and were instrumental in getting lawmakers to add school librarians to the state-level definition of basic education in Washington. “We’ve been inundated by people at the community level asking ‘Hey, what’s happening, what can we do?’”

Acknowledging that the economic climate mandates that “there are budget cuts that have to be made,” Bellevue parent Jeani Littrell-Kwik told AL that nonetheless, “It’s so obvious to me that the decision doesn’t make sense.” Creator of a website protesting the reassignments, Littrell-Kwik explained that the district prides itself on preparing students for college and has “embedded” information literacy into its curriculum along with instructions for classroom teachers to collaborate with teacher-librarians. Consequently, she said, Bellevue schools are “nationally recognized for how well our students do.” She went on to say that her goal was to persuade the school board to make a policy mandating teacher-librarians in every district school.

The outcry in Bellevue prompted BSD administrators to post an FAQ (PDF file) defending the action as a “difficult decision [that] was not made lightly by our principals” and expressing hope that “in years to come, funding will improve and principals will be able to make different decisions about how best to use their allocations.” The FAQ also emphasizes that libraries for grades 6–12 will be staffed by library assistants and remain open, that information literacy “will be supported by regular classroom teachers in secondary schools,” and that BSD “will still have librarians in our elementary schools.”

That’s part of the problem, according to reassignment opponents. “I send 5th-graders off to middle school,” Lake Hills Elementary School Librarian Kristine McLane told AL, “and I want those 5th-graders to have opportunities that will allow them to develop the skills they need to have when they get to college.” Noting that the district’s mission statement is “to provide every student with a top-of-the-line college preparatory education,” McLane emphasized that the library media program “is the one place” where students learn “how to evaluate information to determine if it’s what they’re looking for. If we take that away from them, they’re not going to be prepared to be successful in college.”

“It’s inevitable that such cuts are going to continue until there is some statement at the federal level that library programs and librarians are a relevant part of American education,” declared Brunkan. “And by relevant I mean funded and that there’s policy to delineate what skills American students deserve equally.”

Beverly Goldberg, American Libraries Online
Posted on May 27, 2009.