School Librarians on Chopping Block
By Theresa Manus-Piccilo
Stratford
A different perspective on removing Librarians- I would like to know how they think this can logistically work. Besides all the great things librarians do, bottom line is that elementary school students have library as a subject on their report card. They are graded on the skills they learn there. It is a special area subject and provides the classroom teacher with a prep period like all special areas. With a tutor in the library I would not be comfortable with my child being graded in the subject and I definitely would not want them to have a scheduled time once a week with someone who is not a highly qualified teacher. So who is providing the missing teacher preps and are we removing the subject grading from the report cards?
Are we requiring any certification for a library tutor or the specific 062 School Library Media Specialist certification?
Tutors are those who are not full time teachers, several reasons they are, for the average person this is not a good gig – you cannot live on the salary, there are no benefits, and there are plenty of full time teacher openings in the State.
