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NYS Education Fiscal Insolvency How Do We Advocate?. Pauline Herr - Section of School Librarians Dave Arnone – NYSCEA President NYSCEA March 1, 2013. Key points for school libraries:.
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NYS Education Fiscal InsolvencyHow Do We Advocate? Pauline Herr - Section of School Librarians Dave Arnone – NYSCEA President NYSCEA March 1, 2013
Key points for school libraries: 1. The tax cap does not allow school districts to make up the difference from the drop in educational aid. In many cases, grant money has diminished, has dried up, or does not allow for continued programming. 2. Mandated testing is consuming a great deal of money and time. For a student, time is crucial to understanding. To our students, time is money. 3. Many of our most needy students do not have access to technology at home, nor do they have access to public libraries.
Key points for school libraries: 4. School library programs offer students a place in which to expand their individual interests and curiosity, away from incessant testing. They may choose to explore individually or with others. Closed libraries do not allow this opportunity. Poor collections, due to a lack of funding, do not allow this opportunity. 5. School library programs offer students access to technology and information, and the guidance in using it, that most do not have access to at home. There is opportunity to create new information in a variety of ways. This is important for both individual and collaborative curriculum-based research. 6. With increasing technology, digital literacy is more important than ever. School library programs offer not just the technology, but guidance in finding the most reliable information, as well as the ethics behind research. This is training for college and/or the workforce they may not otherwise have available to them.
Key points for school libraries: 7. School libraries offer our students a collection that not only informs, but also allows them to “experience” other cultures, mores, and life styles for a better understanding of themselves and their place in society. 8. Sue Kowalski, 2012-2013 NYLA/SSL President: “Librarians and all teachers are less able to integrate quality collaborative learning as most of the focus of schools has become the filling out of forms, the Scantrons, the grids, the templates, the pre-post test, the data collection.... “ We are already seeing this.
Tips for Advocacy http://www.niskayunaschools.org/district/budget/201314/PDFs/Niskayuna-key-messages-for-state-leaders.pdf http://educationspeaks.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/2.11AdvocacyToolkit_final3.pdf
A Key Resource • Statewide School Finance Consortium • ssfc@statewideonline.org • Our May Meeting – 5/18/2013
NYSCEA’s Position A Position Paper? What are the key Indicators Decision makers Should be Watching? Would You Like to Be a Part? – Use the My 2 Cents Form