Camille at Book Moot is all over our blow-dried governor Rick Perry and his empty-headed "65% solution" for spending on Texas public education.
As noted earlier, this stoopid idea counts football as "classroom instruction" (i.e., essential) but not libraries, librarians, counselors, or school nurses.
Librarians and libraries serve and teach EVERY SINGLE student in a school. How many people fit into the football team's locker room??Unlike classroom teachers who change annually as a student progresses, a librarian is with a student for as long as he/she is at the school. We get to know their interests, their highs and woes. A great many of us have an uncanny ability to put the right book at the right time into a child's hands and make them a lifelong reader.
Librarians instruct students in online safety and good searching techniques. As kids spend more and more time online, it is interesting to realize this kind of education is considered "supplemental."
At its very core, this rule pits educators against each other. We are fighting among ourselves for money. School nurses are a vital part of student safety but under this provision, they too are considered "supplemental" and will have to fight it out with counselors, janitors and the school bus fuel budget for funding.
Posted by Alan at January 7, 2006 11:32 AM