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House Panel Mulls Stronger School Library Policy

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Not all school libraries are created equal.  A State Board of Education study highlights the point.  While almost all schools have libraries and 95% have librarians, only 44% of those librarians are full-time.  “Many of the librarians are serving multiple schools within their districts,” says the University of Pittsburgh’s Dr. Mary Biagini, the study’s lead author.  “So students do not have access to a librarian, and sometimes not to the library, throughout their school days.”

The study, mandated by state lawmakers, also found dated and scarce collections at school libraries.  Dr. Biagini says state guidelines recommend $40 – $50-dollars being spent per student on library services, but almost 40% of school districts allocate just $1 – $10-dollars per student.  “The research shows that the higher the funding, the better those students do in reading and writing.”

The House Education Committee formally accepted the school library study at an informational hearing on Wednesday.  It also heard from advocates, who are promoting equal access to adequate school libraries.

While the State Board of Education study provides a snapshot of the 2010-2011 school year, the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association says more recent budget cuts have only made the situation worse.  “We found that an additional 198 schools eliminated or reduced their services from the previous year,” PSLA president Eileen Kern told the committee.

Despite 75-pages of guidelines, state law does not currently mandate dedicated funding, trained staff or even school libraries themselves.  Citing those facts, leaders of the Pennsylvania PTA also called for reforms that set standards for Pennsylvania public school library programs.

Before he adjourned the hearing, Education Chair Paul Clymer (R-Bucks) told the audience that his committee will be making strong school library recommendations when the new state budget is discussed.

S.E.S.A.M.E. Act Seeks to End Educator Sexual Misconduct

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The acronym stands for Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation.  “It’s an absolute real, significant and predominant problem in all of our states,” says S.E.S.A.M.E. board member John Seryak.  A retired teacher from Ohio, Seryak traveled to Harrisburg this week to urge action on SB 1381. 

The group is fighting for new laws across the country, but Pennsylvania is on the frontlines, in part because of the high-profile Jerry Sandusky scandal. 

The bill would put an end to a practice dubbed ‘passing the trash,’ in which a teacher accused of sexual abuse resigns or retires and is allowed to quietly move on to another district.  Specifically, it would tighten abuse reporting laws, require schools to obtain all prospective employees’ work records and prohibit confidentiality agreements between a school and an alleged abuser. 

“This legislation was crafted to allow school districts to know who they are hiring,” says state Senator Anthony Williams (D-Philadelphia), the prime sponsor of Pennsylvania’s S.E.S.A.M.E. Act. 

SB 1381 already received a unanimous vote in the Senate Education Committee.  Now, supporters want to see action by the full Senate before the new school year. 

Seryak says that in more than one-third of sexual misconduct cases teachers do not lose their certification. “I think it raises the bar as far as responsibility goes… for all the people that work for the school district.”