Tuesday, 14 August 2012

[WardFive] Re: [ward5] Fwd: Jonetta Rose Barras: The fight for school libraries in D.C.

Good Morning,
 
1.  Who in their right mind as a Chancellor or Mayor makes a decision to eliminate Librarians from schools under full capacity?
 
2.  How does a City Council Approve such a thing?
 
3.  Who voted for this cut on the Council and Why did it take so long for Jack Evans/anyone to submit legislation on this?
 
4.  Aren't most/all these schools underperforming and if so, how the he** does this help improve a school - especially in an impoverished area or school that is suffering from seriously dimunitive literacy issues?
 
5.  How does a Chancellor measure "sufficient return" on librarians? Do we take away the opportunity for all our children in our household because some are performing as well?
 
6.  Why wasn't the sacrifice of funding $5 for librarians made from the $86 million that was given out in raises/bonuses? 
 
 
*****Can someone pubicize the School Budget so that we can see how the $800+ million is being spent?
 
**On a side note, why is it that only Cheh and Wells advocating for a more stringent Ethics Bill?
 
 
Rob

On Tue, Aug 14, 2012 at 9:06 AM, KPW <WKPW3@aol.com> wrote:
 

Though technology has changed the way people do research, books are still great teaching aides.  Some people prefer reading actual books rather than read lengthy material online.
 
KPW
 
Excerpt from article
But if those community facilities are critical, doesn't the same hold true for libraries and librarians inside traditional public schools? More than 45,000 children spend their entire day -- five days a week -- in those buildings.
 
****
Tragically, later this month, 57 traditional public schools, including 64 percent of those in Ward 5, will open without librarians; 17,000 children will be adversely affected, according to research by the Capitol Hill Public School Parents Organization, or CHPSPO.
 
Local: DC

The fight for school libraries in D.C.

August 13, 2012 | 8:00 pm
0 Comments

Jonetta Rose Barras

Columnist
The Washington Examiner
Mayor Vincent C. Gray and D.C. Council members have said they want to keep the city's public neighborhood libraries open seven days a week. But Jack Evans has accused them of being all talk and no action. They certainly didn't provide more funding to achieve their goal in the recently approved fiscal year 2013 budget.
 
"Coming from a small town in Pennsylvania, the library was like a view on the world. I'm not in that small town because of the library," the Ward 2 legislator told me. He has introduced legislation mandating Sunday hours at all branches.
 
But if those community facilities are critical, doesn't the same hold true for libraries and librarians inside traditional public schools? More than 45,000 children spend their entire day -- five days a week -- in those buildings.
 
"It's a little harder to do anything with [them]. I can't control the [DCPS] budget," said Evans. "But, I am going to do everything I can to get a librarian and art teacher in every school."
 
Tragically, later this month, 57 traditional public schools, including 64 percent of those in Ward 5, will open without librarians; 17,000 children will be adversely affected, according to research by the Capitol Hill Public School Parents Organization, or CHPSPO.
 
Gray and DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson, with council approval, eliminated funding for librarians at schools with student populations of 299 or less. Larger facilities could retain their librarians, but only if principals used "flexible funding;" that money, in many instances, also helps pay for instructional staff.
CHPSPO and other education advocates have urged Henderson to restore funding for librarians citywide; a DCPS official told me that would require less than $5 million. The school system's local budget is more than $800 million.
 
At least 1,000 people have signed CHPSPO's online petition at change.org. During the spring and early summer, the organization held demonstrations at DCPS and in front of city hall. Finally, Henderson has agreed to meet with them this week.
 
They are expected to present fascinating statistics that demonstrate the nexus between libraries/librarians and academic proficiency. Their data indicate that those "reward schools" whose recent test scores showed significant progress had either full-time or part-time librarians. Those with full-time librarians had higher proficiency levels, according to CHPSPO.
 
"There is a strong statistical correlation," said Peter MacPherson, of CHPSPO, while acknowledging the presence of a librarian may not be the sole factor. "But, it matters in a significant way."
 
The organization's findings seem to contradict Henderson's assertion earlier this year that the school system had not received sufficient return on its investment in librarians.
 
"They are remarkably clueless," said MacPherson, adding that while the chancellor is hunting for various and unproven approaches to enhance student achievement, she has ignored "known successful strategies."
Evans pledged to introduce his librarian-art teacher legislation this fall. Advocates should support his bill. After all, even before Henderson's program and budget cuts, some traditional schools didn't have any library or a librarian.
 
Jonetta Rose Barras can be reached at jonetta@jonettarosebarras.com.
 
Jonetta Rose Barras' column appears on Tuesday and Friday. She can be reached at jonetta@jonettarosebarras.com.
-----Original Message-----
From: Aaron McCormick <aaron.mccormick01@gmail.com>
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Sent: Tue, Aug 14, 2012 6:52 am
Subject: [ward5] Fwd: Jonetta Rose Barras: The fight for school libraries in D.C.

 
One city

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: WashingtonExaminer.com RSS - jonetta-rose-barras <dcxweb@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 14, 2012 at 5:10 AM
Subject: Jonetta Rose Barras: The fight for school libraries in D.C.
To: aaron.mccormick01@gmail.com


Jonetta Rose Barras: The fight for school libraries in D.C.

Posted: 13 Aug 2012 01:20 PM PDT
Jonetta Rose Barras Mayor Vincent C. Gray and D.C. Council members have said they want to keep the city's public neighborhood libraries open seven days a week. Read more on WashingtonExaminer.com

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