NYS Education Law

I am a school librarian represented by the teachers’ union. What should my union leaders know to advocate for me?

It is hard to be a union rep. Teachers and other educators have a wide variety of regulations they must abide by. What is important to remember is that within those parameters, school libraries have even more requirements and limits.

Here are the important things for an attorney or union rep negotiating or advocating for a school librarian to know:

For public libraries seeking school ballot funding, there's some gray area around whether a petition with signatures of eligible school district voters needs to be submitted to the school. Is the petition actually needed and if so, what laws and policies define this process?

When I started writing “Ask the Lawyer” in 2016, my daughter was two years old.

I would like to be able to answer this question like a two-year-old Molly and say simply (and loudly): “NO!” (you don't need a petition).