[ISLMA-Share] Report on last night's ISBE Listening Tour in Bloomington

[Email list for the Illinois School Library Media Association]

There were 5 librarians among the 50+ crowd at yesterday's ISBE Listening Tour meeting in Bloomington. IEA had a meeting in the building prior to the Listening Tour, and many stayed to listen to the ISBE presentation by Jason Helfer.



It followed the typical pattern--about an hour of material from ISBE on the work so far. This is actually their second tour, and there have been a number of recommendations previously made through workshopping.



Their current draft of the state plan and its reader's guide, which is 45 pages shorter, can be found at isbe.net/essa .



Right now there are plans to have a final plan to the Governor in January in order to meet a March deadline. There was some talk about the deadline being moved by the DOE, but there was no firm confirmation.



After the presentation, six people gave testimony. I did on behalf of ISLMA (only one per organization) on accountability, standards and funding. Amy Webb spoke on her personal experiences as a librarian referencing ISBE's accountability matrix. Lou Ann Jacobs spoke on her personal experience and addressed whole child. An administrator spoke on their desire to not be burdened by unfunded mandates, a kindergarten teacher spoke on the difference between student growth and attainment models, and a young woman advocated for Title money for after school programs. I was quoted in the local paper and the next meeting in Peoria was noted.



We, the librarians, were approached by Mr. Helfer and a former Chicago school teacher who thanked us for advocating for librarians. We left printed copies of our statements with the note-takers.



I would highly recommend going if there is a meeting in your area and organizing your comments if there are more than one librarian in attendance. Most of my comments were informed by the ISLMA talking points, AASL's ESSA position and feedback on this listserv.



Here's to hoping our voices make a difference!

Gretchen Zaitzeff
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