invest in libraries, not tests and standards

Invest in libraries, not standards and tests
Sent to the Washington Post, June 24, 2010
Missing from "Libraries fading as school budget crisis deepens," June 24, is the overwhelming and consistent evidence showing that school library quality and the presence of a credentialed librarian relate to reading achievement as well as to other measures of school success. This has been demonstrated at the state, national and international levels.
Also missing is the fact that while library funding is being cut, we are planning to spend billions on new standards and national tests, which will result in far more testing than we have ever done before and far more than we need.
We are apparently much more interested in measuring than in solving problems.
Stephen Krashen
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/24/AR2010062401160.html