Here in the Detroit area, we get the privilege of getting both American and Canadian TV.  So we get to see both versions of the reality TV show in which entrepreneurs seek financing from a team of venture capitalists.  The U.S. version, Shark Tank, has many of the same investors as the Maple Leafs’ Dragons’ Den.

In both cases, entrepreneurs go in and make a pitch for how much money they want, what product(s) they have, and how much of their company they’re willing to give in exchange for a financial arrangement.

I was reminded of this show today when a flurry of emails crossed the Michigan Association for Media in Education’s listserv announcing an unprecedented number of job reassignments that take librarians back into the classroom mid-year.  (I’ve got to wonder - who’s been teaching those classes all fall?)

This is very unusual in Michigan’s union environment, where folks are used to being placed in the fall and, at the very least, staying there until the end of the school year.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Michigan school librarians are being cut at unprecedented rates — and earlier in the school year than we are used to. There’s little that can be said to palliate that pain for our colleagues.  Though they would, in a pinch, agree that being moved to a classroom is better than nothing (an option, sadly, not available to low-seniority teachers, who face losing their jobs and, ultimately, their homes), they are legitimately angry that the state funding crisis, which has been slowly boiling for my entire seven-year career as a school librarian, has finally reached its inevitable boil.

(I’m reminded of how to cook frogs:raise the temperature slowly so they don’t notice that they are being boiled to death.  Guess what - we’ve been slowly boiling for years, and trust me: there comes  a point when The. Frog. Knows.)

It hurts to see school librarians and libraries cast off.  As the daughter of a school administrator, I know that no administrator wishes to be in this terrible position. Given their druthers, administrators would like to have as many things to brag about as possible.

Ultimately, in Michigan, there isn’t a “we hate librarians” movement.  Rather, the money is just running out.  My friends who are counselors, Enrichment specialists, curriculum specialists, special ed parapros, general ed parapros, social workers, etc., are as worried as we are.  Teachers brace to lose their jobs, have 35 kids jammed in a classroom designed for 22, lose benefits and planning time, and more.  Sadly, no one is immune.

Is it about you? Or not? In the early years of budget cuts, I don’t doubt that principals who cut librarians early made those cuts based on the perceived value of that librarian. We are a personality-driven profession.

But guess what? It’s probably, most likely, 99% certain that it’s not about you if your job is on the line.  If you’ve managed to survive 7+ years of cuts, you’re either a) lucky, or b) have adapted over time to refresh your value to the school.

If your job is on the line, you can a) let go, b) launch an advocacy campaign, c) fight back, and/or d) rearticulate your value.  Sadly, what you cannot do is point fingers at others and say that they dropped the ball. The responsibility to react is in your hands.

So how does this relate to Shark Tank? It’s how we react to those cuts. Here are my lessons learned from my Shark Tank obsession:

Avoid the Single SKU.

The Sharks squirm when people come to them with a single product, known in the biz as  a “SKU” in reference to the item’s unique code.  They want to buy into companies that go beyond the single trendy gimmick, that will continue to grow, change, and benefit the investor. Similarly, librarians who define themselves as having a single skill to share — be it citation, database searching, books, or Accelerated Reader — won’t gain traction. Prepare to showcase all aspects of your contributions to student learning.

Know Your Niche.

The Sharks cringe when a new food entrepreneur comes to them. The grocery and food distribution business is highly complex and highly competitive.  What can you do to distinguish yourself from every other barbecue rub? What can you do that classroom teachers can’t? The landscape in which we “owned” genres or notetaking or non-fiction or even citation has shifted … our state curricula includes most of those elements now for classroom teachers to teach.  So if that’s the case, what is your niche?

Don’t Point the Finger.

Sharks like entrepreneurs who take responsibility as leaders, financial planners, and visionaries.  They don’t like it when the candidates blame failures on other people.  Similarly, it’s not your state assocation who should take the blame for your crisis, and I wince when I see the listserv turn in this direction.  You are your state association. Partner with your colleagues instead of blaming them.  In addition, don’t blame your Board for having to make heartwrenching decisions. Go to the source of the funding problem (in Michigan, it’s a Congressional issue).

Don’t Cry. At Least In Front of The Sharks.

It never wins anybody any money. It won’t win you your job, either. Cry at home, cry with friends, but be careful about crying in public, either via a listserv or a Board meeting.

Know Your Numbers.

The Sharks keep swell leather pads on their armrests so they can jot down the financial numbers being proposed.  They’re numbers people.  Anecdotes about happy customers? Not good enough.Smart applicants know that and come prepared.  Know the stats that go beyond circulation.  What do Keith Curry Lance’s studies indicate? What does School Libraries Work say? Speak the language of money to the administrators who are stressed about making ends meet.

Get Your Testimonials.

Now is the time to rally the non-librarians around you.  Shark Tank wannabes use others’ buying habits to indicate their past success. They know that it’s one thing to have a great product (a library with a certified librarian) and another thing for others to support the product by buying it (using and loving the library).  Cash in your personal favors.  Ask others to speak on your behalf.

Love Your Product.

Though I don’t always agree with — or need — the inventions and companies brought to the Sharks, I’ve got to admit that the entrepreuers love and believe in their product.  So it’s impossible to dislike them (even if I don’t need a fake golf club into which I can urinate if I can’t make it to the bathroom in time).  What’s your passion? How are you sharing that with your Sharks in a way that will preserve your likability even if they ultimately say no?

Partner.

One thing I love is when the Sharks negotiate with one another to jointly invest. Each takes less risk and still gets involved in a product that really excites them.Unfortunately, if your job is in jeopardy, someone else’s probably is, too.  Partner with others in your state or area.  Share resources and strategies. Don’t go it alone.

Anticipate the Questions.

Savvy entrepreurs watch Shark Tank episodes before appearing on them. They need to know how things work, how to navigate the waters, and what strategies to use. What questions are you likely to be asked if your job is in crisis? (”Why do we need flexible schedule?” “Why do we need databases when everything is online?” etc.) Have your statistics and justifications ready.  You never know when you’ll be next in line at the Piggly Wiggly with the Board President. Prep your elevator speeches.

It is heartbreaking to watch school librarians suffer and mourn.  But it is even more heartbreaking for school librarians who call themselves school leaders shrink back from leadership when times are tough. Fight the good fight. Do your best. Don’t let anyone say, “We cut her because she was ineffective.” If the Fates decide that the money isn’t there, at least have them say, “The hardest thing we had to do was cut the librarian, because she was phenomenal.” Don’t let it be about you.

Image from Michael Stephens’ Tame the Web blog

Over the past few months, as our district continues its quest for 21st century learners and professional learning communities, and as I’ve attended AASL Fall Forum and our state media conference, I am reminded of how busy educators are. A huge percentage of an educator’s day is spent not planning for instruction, but actively engaging in instruction.

A while back, I read The Google Story, in which I learned that Google employees may spend 20% of their time working on projects that are personally meaningful to them.  20% of their time — roughly one day per week — can be spent pursuing personal interests, not Google tasks.  

I remember reading and thinking that if only teachers got that time to explore new tools, collaborate with one another, redesign instruction and assessments, and bone up on best practices, our profession would be quite different.   

Instead, most educators receive only a sliver of their paid time as duty-free, and that time is usually spent with grading, bureaucratic paperwork, reviewing the day’s inbox (digital and paper), answering parent communications, and standing in line at the copy machine. 

My thoughts were echoed in David Warlick’s blog entry today:

The teacher-day is virtually unchanged from the classrooms I attended in the ’50s and ’60s.  Think of lawyers, surgeons, or even farmers.  Do they spend all of their time in front of juries, in operating rooms, or in the fields.  No!  An important part of their job is research, collaboration, reflection, resource development, and professional development.       

Now think of factory workers, who spend all of their time on the assembly line, installing parts.  And think of teachers, spending all their time with students on a conveyor belt, moving through kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, while we install math on them, reading, science…  Education is still an industrial age institution, trying to address information age problems.  

Those of us who teach in Michigan are acutely aware of this tension.  Many of us view ourselves as information age educators, yet we recognize that we have factory roots.  We recognize that when auto assembly line workers unionized,they paved the way for teachers to organize for better benefits and working conditions.   

Yet we are painfully, acutely, frighteningly aware of how quickly the industrial age is disintegrating and how ineffective “conveyor belt” education is to meet the needs of our students’ uncertain future.  Huge numbers of the parents in our school work for General Motors or auto suppliers, and most of us have relatives in the auto industry.Our state faces the possibility of retooling two generations at a time: our current students in the public schools and universities and those current auto employees facing unemployment, those with both white and blue collars.

And our state’s tax revenue is the primary funder of education, a change from local education funding that occurred about 14 years ago that was designed to better equalize the per-pupil funding statewide, especially for students in low-income areas.   As those automakers and suppliers face diminishing income, that translates into less state tax revenue, which results in districts having already hacked millions of dollars out of their budget each year for the last several years … and that was before Congress declined to make a loan. 

Now I don’t deny that the auto industry has its share of bloat and unsustainability.  But what I do want us to realize is that our students’ future and its present are on the line. 

So here is our challenge: how do we continue to promote the kinds of innovation and changes in practice that the Standards for the 21st Century Learner, NETS*S, ASCD’s Whole Child, and the Partnership for 21st Century Learning propose? 

We’ve got to keep pushing for professional development in these areas.  And if the districts cannot or will not prioritize professional development for learning (a key component outlined by the Partnership), we’ve got to do it ourselves with study groups or after-school meetings or professional reading or paying our way to conferences.  

I know we school librarians are busy, but we can be key players in offering this professional development and helping to move staff forward, especially if we have flexible scheduling time.    

Many of you are out there doing this already via email newsletters, wiki tutorials, informational notices posted in school bathrooms, staff meeting presentations, ad hoc meetings with individual or small group staff members, or formally-scheduled professional development sessions.   

The new challenge is to reinvent ourselves  beyond “click here and then click here” procedural PD and help to raise the bar of conversation to include the student learning (the cognitive skills, dispositions, self-assessment, and responsibilies), or the thinking behind the doing in school. 

And no document I’ve found is more specific about breaking down the vision for successful student learners than the Standards for the 21st Century Learner.  As the holidays and our much-needed vacation approaches, take some time to curl up under a cozy blanket and read them.   Come back in the new year ready to talk about them with colleagues inside and outside the school.Image: One Gear in a Clock by Flickr User G & M (Neil Stewart), used with a Creative Commons license.�