So it seems I am running into information policy issues all over the place lately. I was on a conference call with my Library of Congress (LOC) group today. They were showing us the mockups of the database and interactives we designed this past fall. These will be professional development modules for teachers. One of the questions we had was could we have people log into the modules and get some sort of professional development credit for working through them.
The woman from the LOC says well that is a privacy policy issue. Since the LOC is a government agency, and if people were to log in then the site would technically be collecting personal data form them and this leads to all sorts of issues that would have to be worked out. And I thought to myself yes it does-information policy issues! :-)
While reading through the e-gov readings for this week I spent time exploring the USA.gov site, which by the way has the potential of becoming a great tool to use to find everything in one place. Of course I was very interested in the links for kids, teens and educators. There is indeed great information here, not just for teaches to use, but beneficial to the kid and teen users as well. Teens can find out about driving and student aid policies and resources on many topics. Kids.gov has many features and resources for kids to use and explore. One feature links to the various state government pages for kids, but in looking at Georgia's I found that is was just horrible. If we want these type of information sources to survive and be useful they need to first provided access to beneficial information and second, be update with some frequency.
While it may not be the exact response I wanted, at least someone is reading all those emails I have been sending!
"Melissa,
Thank you for writing me with your concerns on HB 278.
While I fully understand and agree with your position, it remains a reality that the money just not exist for the state to fund everything they have in the past.
Rather than the state dictate exactly how the local school districts spend every penny, this bill, like others to come, does not cut out any money but only allows the local boards to make those decisions.
Hopefully the Cherokee board and the Superintendent will make the best decisions possible with the diminished funds from the state and local revenue reductions.
My best,
Calvin Hill
State Representative, District 21"
Negotiations continue and President Obama has set a weekend deadline for working out the disagreements and coming to a compromise on the legislation that will pass both the House and the Seante. This process of trying to get Obama's stimulus package to pass both the House and Senate has not been good news for education. The Senate is cutting out most of the bill that would benefit education. Many states were counting on receiving money from the stimulus and have stated that education will suffer and teachers will lose their jobs.
- The House bill provided $39 billion for state education budgets, $15 billion for incentive grants and innovation, and $25 billion that governors could use at their discretion. "The Senate cut the education aid to $31.3 billion and the incentive money to $7.5 billion, and it eliminated the $25 billion in discretionary funding" (Washington Post, 2009).
- Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) states that "The schools are going to have to do with less over the next few years. We all understand that, but we really hope that there will be further help," he said. "We can't just say to a second-grader, 'Come back in five years and do second grade when the economy's better' "(Washington Post, Feb. 11, 2009).
- For higher education it means higher tutition rates, less students admitted, and cuts in staff.
The one glimmer of hope left is that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that some House Democrats were "concerned" about Senate cuts to education and other spending initiatives already approved by the House. So we will see...
States Counting on Stimulus Aid to Balance Budget
2/11/09
After the trouble with TARP and the disappearing bailout funds, OMB Watch has joined a group The Coalition for an Accountable Recovery (CAR) which consist of more than 30 other groups calling for transparency and accountability requirements in federal recovery efforts, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1).
This coalition states that the government needs to be accountable to the public for where all this money is going and how it is being used. That this information should be made available to the public through detailed data and research tools on a searchable website. Then the public can "judge how any recovery funds, including those to the financial sector, are being spent and to ensure that hundreds of billions of dollars of federal spending is disbursed fairly; spent with minimal waste, fraud, and abuse; and can be assessed as effective or ineffective" (OMB Watch, 2009).
After the TARP incident, let's be glad that someone is taking action!
It is legislative season so I am busy keeping up with state and federal leg. that could impact school library media centers and emailing my representatives! Here is a quick list of some of the things I am following:
1. New Education Secretary-Arne Duncan: looks like school library media specialists are on his radar and the buzz on the various listservs is that Arne Duncan is good news for school libraries!
2. Mr. Perdue, our esteemed Ga. Governor, that used the teachers and SLMS support to get elected is once again hitting on education. Several pieces of legislation that impact school libraries and SLMS have been introduced:
- HB 278 - Rep. Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City) - would give local systems more funding control by waiving expenditure controls for media centers, staff and professional development, and instructional costs for the 08-09 and 09-10 school years.
- HB 243 - Rep. Jimmy Pruett (R-Eastman) - HB243 corresponds with the Governor's 2010 budget request to discontinue funding for teachers with National Board Certification. This legislation would "...repeal the salary increase for persons receiving certification from the National Board for Teaching Standards..."
Currently, there are over 120 Senate bills and 330 House bills. This year, issues range from school board management/requirements to tax exemptions, and from PE and student physical fitness assessments to creating more flexibility in the 180 day school year. So it is vital that you stay current on what is going on and keep emailing!
Additionally of course I am monitoring the stimulus plan and its impact on schools, more on that to come...
