Cuts to teacher-librarians: Blame the schools

(BCTF: 2006 Apr. 11)

Deputy Education Minister Emery Dosdall is providing weekly government spin for administrators and trustees through his weekly "Report on Education." On April 7, 2006, he reported on the budget estimate debates in the legislature. He noted that the opposition raised the issue of the reduction in teacher-librarian staffing levels. His response?

"There was concern expressed that the number of teacher-librarians has been drastically reduced since 2001. The minister expressed her view that these staffing decisions and priorities were best determined locally. She said, '...we believe that schools have to make choices about what's best to serve their students in this province. I actually have confidence in educators and parents and teachers working together to determine how best to serve those students...We fundamentally believe that's the best way for us to manage the system.'"

Commenting on the opposition criticism that the accountability contracts were virtually identical from district to district, Dosdall said, "And yes, all districts have a goal focused on literacy, as they should."

Despite 50 years of research showing the strong relationship between a well-staffed and resourced library and high literacy levels, the deputy minister still thinks that testing is the key.