Standards for the 21st Century Learner

I'm taking Jackie's advice today and posting this link to AASL's standards for the 21st century learners. Right now some of us in Los Angeles are fighting to keep the jobs of our paraprofessionals. And I think our professionals' jobs are not safe either. Two teacher librarians were cut from their schools because the principals were given the "choice" to keep them or pay for other positions. This has set a dangerous precedent. As well, our paraprofessionals have been cut from all elementary schools under 550 students -- interestingly enough many of these are the best physical facilities as well as the highest performing schools Los Angeles has. So the Board has chosen to further diminish its ability to turn out well-educated students. The Board of Education members are the ones who need to be reading the standards from AASL. Unfortunately our Board of Ed is not run by educators but politicians who are there to further their political careers. Tamar Galatzan, who seemed to be sympathetic, because she has two children in school, turns out to be running for another office. Monica Garcia, Yoli Flores-Aguilar and other board members were promoted by our Mayor whose goal is to be King, apparently. He was originally put in office by the support of the teachers' union where he once worked. Now he attacks the teachers union as hindering progress. Mr. Opportunist -- sorry, I know I shouldn't be attacking people in a blog, but seriously, he and others are using our children to further their careers. Most of them wouldn't dream of having their own children in a school without a well-run and fully stocked library media center. And I don't believe our President or Secretary of Education would allow their children to attend a school lacking the latest in information literacy which is provided by the library media center. Our public school students are expendable, apparently. All they need to do is get high scores on tests. Politicians are not interested in turning out well-educated, critical-thinking students. They have sold our education system to the highest bidder and turned it into a private enterprise. I guess libraries are next. What can we do to stop this profit-motive movement that is undermining the greatest foundations of modern democracy????

By-the-way, this wonderful teacher librarian in my photo is Barbara Warren. I hope she doesn't mind my using this photo of her incredibly busy and wonderful library media center!! Kudos to Barbara!!!