Save SPS Librarians

In recent district work sessions on the latest budget, it has been indicated that they are suggesting cutting many librarians to half-time.  Personally, I find this unacceptable.  Kids need librarians for many reasons.  As well, if the library doesn't have someone watching over it, I think space might get taken away for other purposes.


Write to:
spsdirectors@seattleschools.org (Just directors)
schoolboard@seattleschools.org (directors plus Superintendent and senior staff)

No photo description available.

Comments

Robert Cruickshank said…
Three steps to ensure these cuts don't happen:

1. Vote YES on the SPS levies, Propositions 1 and 2. You should have your ballot already in the mail!

2. Get the state legislature to restore local levy flexibility. The best legislative vehicle is SB 5313: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?Year=2019&BillNumber=5313

3. Get the state legislature to add lots more state funding for public schools, including via a capital gains tax. One bill to achieve that would be SB 5129: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5129&Year=2019&Initiative=false
1/28/19, 12:26 PM
Anonymous said…
Librarians are not the place to "save money". When this was tried at Sharples all the books "walked away" and became a PR disaster. Look it up. This is what happens when there is no instatutional
memory.

District Person
1/28/19, 9:30 PM
Anonymous said…
Once more I am disheartened by the upper management's devaluing of school staff. It is hard to watch the people who make our schools successful viewed as "expensive" rather than invaluable. It really makes me question where the school district's priorities lay if not within the actual schools.

Here is what I sent in support of the librarians:

I am writing in support of school librarians.  I have heard of the recent SPS plan to reduce all school librarians to half time and I find this plan reprehensible. I understand the upcoming budget predicts a shortfall, and I believe there are several *things* students can survive without and still have a positive educational experience, such as unnecessary standardized testing, a middle school science curriculum that is entirely online, requiring an influx of tech, maintenance, upgrades, and support, and so on. 

But *people* are needed to make every public school a positive place for kids. Teachers, nurses, counselors, and of course, LIBRARIANS are the real reasons kids come to school excited to learn. We need to support our staff as much as possible, and when cuts need to be made, look elsewhere for cost savings.

Please do not cut our librarians.

-NW
1/29/19, 6:34 AM
Anonymous said…
SPS gives a huge new raise to all employees, knowing that they will be short on money the next year if they do so. Then they threaten to cut librarians, knowing that they will be tugging on people's heartstrings and the need for librarians in the schools.

Irresponsible budget planning once again, leading to employees and students being hurt.

Momof2
1/29/19, 2:48 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, grief, that is to come fro
Read more

MEETING CANCELED - Hey Kids, A Meeting with Three(!) Seattle Schools Board Directors

 Update 2: So I have seen a message from President Liza Rankin on why she, Director Evan Briggs, and Director Michelle Sarju backed out of this meeting.  In a nutshell: - She says there was no organization to the meeting which is just not true. They had a moderator lined up and naturally the board members could have set parameters for what to discuss, length of meeting, etc. All that was fleshed out. - She also claimed that if the meeting was PTA sponsored, they needed to have liability insurance to use the school space. Hello? PTAs use school space all the time and know they have to have this insurance.  - She seems to be worried about the Open Public Meetings law. Look, if she has a meeting in a school building on a non-personnel topic, it should be an open meeting. It appears that Rankin is trying, over and over, to narrow the window of access that parents have to Board members. She even says in her message - "...with decisions made in public." Hmmm - She also says that th
Read more