[ISLMA-Share] ESSA Peoria Meeting Summary

[Email list for the Illinois School Library Media Association]

There were approximately 40 people in attendance at the ESSA meeting in
Peoria last night.  Seventeen people spoke on or were there representing:

            Alternative schools

            Special education

            Early Childhood Education

            Technology, the digital divide, rural online access

            Funding, Funding, Funding

            Illinois Virtual Schools

            Gifted Education

School board members

Teachers

Curriculum Directors

Superintendents

ROEs

A city mayor (retired administrator)

IEA/WEA (Washington Teacher’s Union)

ISLMA/ School libraries



One of my favorite speakers was the mayor of Metamora, a retired educator.
He essentially told them that they were a) making the whole thing too darn
complicated, b) wouldn’t see any real progress until the students and
parents were held more accountable and c) needed to let teachers TEACH and
stop adding all these other things to their plates.  [Loved this guy!]



The other speakers I thought were particularly effective were from the
alternative school at Wildlife Prairie Park. The director introduced
himself, and then introduced a graduate from his program. She spoke about
how the program impacted her life and the projects she had completed while
there. The pride in her voice said it all, and I think it really resonated
with the audience.



Angela Green, ISLMA Past President, spoke for the organization and
addressed several of the talking points. She spoke about her library- the
collection age, her students’ needs, and teacher needs. She included as
part of her message that students cannot get the same level service from a
parapro/aid/clerk that they can from a licensed librarian. Tom Gross, ISLMA
Board member & ICE-HOI President, shared his to-do list for the week
illustrating how school librarians play a critical role in the school, both
in and outside of the library.  As a public library board member and a
parent, I tried to bring attention to the fact that many students are
unserved by public libraries and so the school library may be the only
access they have to libraries at all. My comments and Tom’s are attached.



The photos attached are slides pertaining to the College and Career Ready
Indicator Framework. This information was just recently added to the
presentation.


After the meeting, we were approached by a reporter who commented, "You
guys had a plan coming in here, didn't you?"  (or something like that)
Sadly, she didn't want an official comment though.
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