We only have our students for a few short years, and we have so much to teach them before they leave us. It's tempting to say, "They can learn that next year." But we cannot afford to wait a single year to teach them 21st-Century skills. Their classroom curriculum is tightly packed and testing demands more and more time. Some skills are taught only in the library, and when librarians are not there every day, the number of skills that we can teach are severely limited.
An article in the Houston Chronicle in October 2013 pointed out that HISD allowed principals to decide whether or not to keep librarians on campus while many surrounding districts which had cut librarians previously had restored full-time librarians. As recently as 2016, Houston ISD board members have committed to restoring librarians in future.)
The 2013 article points out that certified librarians must be certified teachers with at least two years of teaching experience, with a master's degree in library science, and a certificate [Learning Resources Endorsement Grades K-12] in Texas public schools.
Texas has the studies going back as far as 2000 to prove that having certified, degreed, teacher-librarians on each campus with adequate support staff impact student achievement. Further studies listed in our site continue to bear out these results.
In 2008, the Texas Legislature commissioned TEA to produce a study of the needs of Texas public school libraries. The background of the study and all the data are located at this site, and the final report are found here.
The results of the study include this statement:
"Role of school librarians
The presence of certified school librarians with adequate support staff has been identified as critical to the success of a school library program. Their role in working with classroom teachers to improve student achievement is essential. TEA should determine methods to promote the professional status of librarians as teachers critical to student success."
Furthermore, the cuts have widened the digital divide.