It's Not Just About Ideas

So recently, the HISD school district is having to cut their librarian positions and turning them into behavior centers because they were taken over by the state of Texas and the new superintendent appointed by the State made these changes wrongfully in my eyes. This sparked a lot of outrage and criticism from all around. You can read the full article here: https://www.weareteachers.com/houston-isd-fires-librarians/

Now 2 other districts in or around Houston have followed suite due to other reasons. They have not been politicized but we need to step up and defend our librarians because they are so much more than checking out books. Spring Branch ISD and Katy ISD just got rid of their librarians due to budget costs because the state is not giving them enough funding. So you need to ask yourself, why isn’t the state giving them more funding? Well the answer might not be a huge surprise. Governor Greg Abbott, pulled funding from the school districts in Texas because he is trying to approve vouchers which the districts are not in support of so he is withholding $7.6 Billion of funding from Schools.

The reason that schools are not supporting these vouchers, is because the tax money that the School Districts are paying; a good chunk of it is going to the private schools to fund them. So what that means is the public school system will be paying taxes to basically fund private schools and not go towards what is needed in the state. He says its not a political move, but these vouchers specifically benefit the wealthy and allows them to not have to pay so much for private schools. Here is an article written about it: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/22/texas-school-vouchers-greg-abbott/#:~:text=Abbott%20had%20repeatedly%20said%20in,was%20just%20a%20bargaining%20position.

Librarians are so much more than teachers who just check out books to students. They promote education and help students develop cognitive skills needed to succeed in their learning. Its sad what school districts have to do in order to just get by. We need to stand up and fight for our librarians and school districts by voicing out opposition to the vouchers he is trying to pass. The real problem here with the librarians is not the school district’s fault. Its the conservative thinking from our states leaders that is affecting their decisions. Our leaders should be standing up and leading by example. Not withholding funding for education all because they want something due to their own personal beliefs. We need to stand up and fight for our education. This reminds me of a quote written by Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

If we stand up and fight for our education and all of the pieces, including librarians, that go into it, we can affect real change in this world. We as educators understand what is right for our students to succeed in this world so we need to stand up and fight for education.