LEGISLATIVE ACTION NOW!

Dear WLMA folks-
It's been almost two years since we started working together to protect school library and information literacy programs here in Washington, and one year (almost exactly) since the WA Senate voted 49-0 for school library funding! We so appreciate the time and energy that all of you have put into this effort, and remain hopeful that broad and substantive education reform (with a strong library and info literacy piece) will come to Washington State soon.

In all honesty, however, things are looking very bleak right now. The two pairs of bills that emerged following the 17 months of work and engagement with the Joint Task Force on Basic Education Finance appear to be nearing death. One pair was based on the official JTF recommendations, the other was put forth by a coalition of WEA, School Directors, Spdts., Principals). At best – parts of these bills will be merged if consensus can be reached. At worst – education reform will be punted once again, back into to another 'study', perhaps in the form of a commission.

We asked you to support the JTF recommendations because at the time of that request it was assumed by us that it would be the starting place for education reform; not to mention that it held some of the strongest language in the nation for school libraries if the recommendations were to be made into law (see our website for what the recommendations call for). We didn't know there would be a competing bill but assumed that all parties would negotiate in good faith to adapt the recommendations into something that could be supported by all stakeholders.

We know it has been confusing, scary and bewildering, and that many of you weren’t sure what to support – we’ve heard as much from many of you, and our apologies if we weren't able to respond personally thus far, but we did hear you. We hope the tug of war will stop and the earnest work of compromise, employing a vision, and acting in good faith will begin. The thing we can contribute now is helping send the message to the Legislature that we want education to be made a priority and to our professional organizations that we desire and support working towards a compromise.

We believe that education leaders in the House and Senate (as well as the legislators who served on the Joint Task Force) remain committed to trying to move education reform forward this session. But things remain precariously close to reform not occurring. In fact, TODAY is a key day in this process.

Below you will find an open letter to teachers from Rep. Ross Hunter answering questions about the JTF proposals that affect compensation. We are not experts and defer to him to talk about what their intent was. Please read, and pass along to others in your education community.

Just before hitting send on this dispatch to you we were honored to receive a call back from Mary Lindquist from the WEA. We hope to have a message from her that is forthcoming. Our hope is that this is the time, this is the year, and these are the leaders. We are hopeful!

HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY TO HELP KEEP THIS ALIVE

**** CALL SEN. ROSEMARY MCAULIFFE at (360) 786-7600
If a call isn't possible, email McAuliffe.Rosemary@leg.wa.gov

Senator McAuliffe will be counting the number of calls that come in TODAY (Tuesday 2-17-09) in support of moving education reform forward.

You'll remember that Sen. McAuliffe was one of the champions of the library funding bill last session. As Chair of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, Senator McAuliffe is managing the delicate process of keeping this alive and moving education reform forward. She is committed to taking the best of both bills (the JTF and FFC) and coming up with a compromise bill that will move us forward this session. And at this point that's what we want … to move forward with education reform now.

PLEASE, TAKE A MOMENT TO CALL
Thank her for keeping education reform bills in motion.

KEY POINTS (use your own words):
-> Express your appreciation for her personal efforts to support school libraries. And express your desire to see school libraries and information literacy be a central part of a reformed education system. (The JTF recommendations are very strong with respect to libraries and information technology; teacher-librarians are designated as 'core teachers' and there is an allocation of 1 teacher-librarian for each prototypical school -- these are important to maintain in ANY education reform bill).
-> Let her know that as a parent, grandparent, teacher, businessperson ... you believe WA education reform can't wait a session longer. After 103 studies on the subject (over the course of a generation), 2 years of Washington Learns, and 17 months of serious consideration by the Joint Task Force ... THE TIME IS NOW!

Just a reminder, we are just three moms around at the kitchen table, with no allegiances to any organization or anyone other than the goal of making education a top priority for the state of Washington. We believe that the state of the school library program symbolizes the failure of the state to fully fund education.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to set the state on a solid course for the future. We feel it is imperative that ALL education stakeholders come to the table to talk, to work it out FOR OUR CHILDREN and for our Legislature and Governor to do the right thing by education for our teachers and our children.

Thanks to all of you …
Lisa, Susan and Denette

Please read the letter with the above information and additional information from Rep. Ross Hunter’s Open Letter to Teachers linked below (in PDF format or also originally posted on his blog whatittakesforkids.com for more information and how you can help.

Thanks to all of you …
Lisa, Susan and Denette

www.wlma.org