California K-12 Online Content Project, essential during COVID-19 pandemic

In correspondence this week to members of the California Senate and Assembly, I expressed my concern that the proposed California budget eliminates funding for the California K-12 Online Content Project.* Via email, I asked that this $3-million line item be returned to the state budget.

As a school paralibrarian, I’ve reacted with dismay as my students were cut off from physical access to our school library during the order to shelter-in-place in response to COVID-19. Through recorded read-alouds, I’ve done my best to maintain continuity for the library story-time experience, but I simply could not duplicate providing students with access to informational resources in our school library.

These past several weeks have underscored the importance of online distance-learning resources.

During this time of pandemic, districts across the state have depended on the California K-12 Online Content Project for its authoritative digital content (suites of multilingual resources from Britannica, ProQuest, and TeachingBooks).

With our timeline still uncertain for resuming physical access to our sites, school students, staff, and families continue to need all of the distance-learning support they can get.

We need access to this collection, to further equity for all of our children and to reduce the opportunity gap in our schools.

Put simply, this is our state’s only collection of distance-learning online resources available to every one of our students, teachers, and families.

Consider these statistics, which document our school communities’ reliance upon these resources:

• Onboarding of districts serving 92 percent of California students,
• Student use totaled nearly 125 million searches and inquiries in the first two years of this program, and
• Amid school closures, usage increased by more than 590 percent for some of these resources.

One last vital note: The California K-12 Online Content Project is economical and financially efficient. The statewide purchase enabled us to use an economy of scale for a 98-percent discount. Under this project, it costs financially strapped districts nothing, and the state less than $3 million per year.

It is essential, especially in these uncertain times, that we maintain continuity and rigor, while providing California students with equitable, differentiated resources that they already know, use, and trust.

Learn more about the California K-12 Online Content Project by contacting Greg Lucas, the California State Librarian who oversees this equity tool: greg.lucas@ca.gov or 916-323-9759. Or read additional values and benefits for this database collection.

* SOURCE: Budget cuts are found on page 8 of the Budget Letter where it reads: “Department of Education: Online Educational Resources Program Reduction—It is requested that Schedule (2) of Item 6100-172-0001 be decreased by $3 million Proposition 98 General Fund to reflect a decline in available funding due to a decrease in the Proposition 98 minimum guarantee. (See row 89 of Attachment 1 (page 3 of 6) and Section 2 of Attachment 2).” My correspondence by email, and this post, made use of talking points provided by a campaign to save funding for the California K-12 Online Content Project.