After reading the attached article on LM-NET today, I decided to write the following letter to our state senators. As many schools are struggling to retain teachers and programs all over the country, I felt the need to express my frustration to our state representatives. Following is the letter I wrote.
The Houston Chronicle had a great editorial last weekend.
At least they "get it."
I am an unemployed elementary teacher ready to obtain my School Library Media certification, I am distressed about the lack of positions available in the upstate New York area due to the shortage of money going towards education. I am sad to hear President Obama discuss the need for teachers and their importance and then hear about all of the teachers who are losing their jobs because schools do not have sufficient funds to adequately provide the means for what is necessary to adequately educate our young people. I began working on a third certification as a librarian because of the need for librarians in schools two years ago but now many schools are eliminating the librarian because they are not required in elementary and middle schools. A library is required in each school in New York State, but not a qualified person to oversee the lifelong learning that should be taking place. Children do not just receive a book when they go to the library, they receive guidance about quality literature, a love for reading, knowledge about how to locate correct information and how to discriminate between accurate and false information, just to name a few. Some children don't get read to just for the pure joy of listening to a story anywhere but a school library and many are losing this with the loss of a school librarian. The schools who retain an aide in the library may get the story but won't learn how to locate information for a project or how to use technology to demonstrate knowledge because they don't have a library media specialist who can show them how. With New York State trying to increase student ELA scores, taking away a valuable resource as the school library seems a foolish decision.
If states can't come up with the resources to provide a quality education for their children, I encourage the federal government to work harder at providing the resources necessary to keep teachers and aides in the classrooms. Our country spends millions of dollars each day providing assistance to other countries and causes. While many would believe these causes worthy, I believe we need to focus more on the citizens of our own country before providing assistance to others. If we are going to produce a nation of educated citizens, it begins in schools where students are encouraged to ask questions, and are provided the resources, including teachers and aides, to produce the answers.
I encourage you to pursue this issue for the sake of our future generations.
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