Dear Neighbors:
I hope many of you have a chance to enjoy this week’s trifecta of holidays, including Purim, (celebrating the Jewish community’s unlikely survival in ancient Persia), Saint Patrick’s Day and the Feast of Saint Joseph. In this week’s letter, I will discuss a hearing last week on public and school libraries, and its connection to the issue of public education funding.
A. The Freedom To Read Act
On Wednesday, the Senate Education Committee heard testimony concerning the Freedom To Read Act, which would establish procedures and guard rails to preserve the discretion of professionals at public libraries and school libraries to make judgments concerning the collection of reading material available for circulation. The bill is a response to a growing tide of efforts, both within Rhode Island and more so nationally, to remove books from library shelves for political or ideological reasons.
The hearing attracted enormous public interest and comment, including several hundred written comments and over 50 members of the public who testified in person. I found most compelling the testimony of students who described how a book they read (predominantly a work of literature) opened their minds to new worlds and changed their lives. Their testimony reminded me of how important my own outside reading shaped my world view and values, forming an important supplement to my classroom education. While some expressed opposition, the great preponderance of public comments supported the legislation, which I will be pleased to join.
B. The School Libraries Act
The Senate Education Committee also heard testimony concerning the School Libraries Act, which would set standards for school libraries and require every public school (with enrollment of at least 250) to have a full-time certified school librarian. While the testimony clearly established the value of school libraries and librarians, the bill’s staffing requirement would create an “unfunded mandate” that could compromise other vital education programs. More specifically, the State’s education aid funding formula does not provide for partial State funding of school librarians, and urban school districts already struggle to fund the mandates currently in place, as we observed in Providence during the recent financial conflict between the school district and the City.
For this reason, I believe the sustainable path to universal school libraries begins with adequate State aid for urban school districts. Rhode Island’s education aid funding formula fails to provide adequate support for school districts with children in poverty in two different ways: first, by undercounting the students in poverty and second by failing to recognize that schools need greater resources as the concentration of students in poverty increases. Senator Acosta introduced this Bill to close the first gap, while I introduced this Bill to address the second one. While statements of priorities can have symbolic value, it takes the commitment of resources for them to have actual value.