Elementary and Secondary Education Act

Citation

Fitzsimmons, E. (2000), "Elementary and Secondary Education Act", The Bottom Line, Vol. 13 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/bl.2000.17013cab.003

Elementary and Secondary Education Act

During February 2000, the Senate staff and organizations interested in the reauthorization of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) were extremely busy developing their strategies for amendments to a draft bill (S. 2). Although the bill reauthorizes most of the major program, librarians are particularly concerned about the Title VI block, Innovative Education Program Strategies, which includes spending for school media centers. This block has been expanded to include 15 additional programs, and there is always the possibility that some of these programs could use all the Title VI funds. S. 2 provides less money for training school library media specialists and purchasing library materials than the current ESEA. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee started mark-up of the draft legislation on 1 March. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) sponsored an amendment, S. 1262, a school library resources bill. Senator Reed has been working very hard to draw attention to the woefully outdated non-fiction collections in school libraries. On 1 March, opening day of the mark-up of ESEA, Senator Reed read from a library book on careers - a book with a copyright from the 1950s, and he also read from an outdated book during a press conference that Secretary of Education Richard Riley held.

In the House version of the bill, funding for school libraries is not ensured either. Representative Major Owens (D-NY) has drafted H.R. 3008, school library resources legislation as an amendment to Title III and H.R. 3071, an amendment that would expand the definition of school construction to include school library media center reconstruction and retrofitting for technology. House mark-ups started mid-April 2000.

Historically, the federal government has provided support for purchasing school materials, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to rely on funds for materials. In 1965, there was a dedicated program for school library resources, and many of the books still on school library shelves were purchased at that time. In the 1970s, it was included in a block grant as one of the choices; however, the creation of this block was followed by cuts in funding for school libraries. The current ESEA Title VI includes school library resources as one of nine of choices for funding; however, both House and Senate bills have increased the number of choices to 15 (including school safety), which lessens the chance of funding for school libraries.