The event coincides with President Obama’s ConnectED Initiative, introduced in June, which aims to connect nearly all of America’s students to high-speed wireless internet in five years.

“We are looking forward to hosting this event and highlighting the great work educators and schools from across the country are doing to connect our students to the future through technology,” says Bess Evans, a public engagement advisor in the White House’s Office of Public Engagement and its Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Previously this year, the White House honored 12 museum and library “Champions of Change,” two of which were 2013 Library Journal Movers & Shakers. They were honored at a June ceremony.

The Champions of Change program was created as an opportunity for the White House to feature groups of Americans—individuals, businesses, and organizations—who are doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities.

“The honorees are providing powerful learning experiences,” the White House said in a statement. “They are reaching young children and their families with early learning opportunities; offering exciting experiences for teens to develop skills in science, technology, engineering and math; helping immigrants learn English and pursue citizenship; and providing services for hard-to-reach populations so that everyone can succeed in school and in life.”

The honorees are:

Elizabeth Babcock, Ph.D., San Francisco, CA
Chief Public Engagement Office and Roberts Dean of Education, California Academy of Science

David Becker, Chicago, IL
Senior Manager of Learning Experiences, Chicago Zoological Society

Leslie Bushara, New York, NY
Deputy Director, Education and Guest Services, Children’s Museum of Manhattan

Harriet Henderson Coalter, Richmond, VA
Director of Richmond Public Library

Sue Considine, Fayetteville, NY
Executive Director, Fayetteville Free Library

Jamie Hollier, Denver, CO
Owner/Consultant, Anneal

Jennifer Manley, Queens, NY
Vice President, Government & Community Affairs, Queens Borough Public Library

Cheryl McCallum, Ed.D., Houston, TX
Director of Education, Children’s Museum of Houston

Homa Naficy, Hartford, CT
Chief Adult Learning Officer, Hartford Public Library

Gloria Tibbs, Kansas City, MO
Teaching and Learning Services Librarian/Diversity Liaison, University of Missouri – Kansas City Libraries

Sandy Tharp-Thee, Perkins, OK
Library Director, Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma

Matthew Winner*, Columbia, MD
Teacher Librarian, Longfellow Elementary School, Howard County Public Schools, MD

* Read SLJ‘s Up Close interview with Winner on Tuesday, June 18, 2013.

“Digital learning resources are playing a huge role in personalizing instruction and empowering students to develop the critical thinking, collaboration, communication and digital citizenship skills needed today and in the rapidly changing world we live in,” says ISTE CEO Brian Lewis. “But for all students to benefit from the promise of this digital transformation, all students need access. We must accelerate our investment in school bandwidth connectivity.”

If ISTE’s petition reaches 100,000 signatures by May 1, 2013, the White House will respond.

President Obama tapes the weekly address in the State Dining Room of the White House. Photo: White House Photo: Chuck Kennedy.

President Obama’s weekly radio and Internet address on Saturday focused on the critical role that education plays in our country’s future—and the need for Congress to pass his proposed jobs bill to help states prevent teacher layoffs and rehire them.  But he made no mention of school librarians.

Obama said several thousand educators would not be returning to school in September. And due to budget cuts at the state and local level, some 300,000 education jobs have been lost since the official end of the recession in 2009. As a result, the student-to-teacher ratio has increased by 4.6 percent from 2008 to 2010 and that number is expected to grow.

“Think about what that means for our country,” Obama said. “At a time when the rest of the world is racing to out-educate America; these cuts force our kids into crowded classrooms, cancel programs for preschoolers and kindergarteners, and shorten the school week and the school year.”

While Obama made no mention of school librarians in his address, a White House report on this subject, “Investing in Our Future: Returning Teachers to the Classroom,” references several newspaper articles that illustrate the effect of education cuts on libraries as well.

In Sacramento, CA, for example, the Sacramento Bee reported that this upcoming year, area students returning to school should expect another year of large class sizes, fewer teachers, and reduced resources, as a result of four consecutive years of state budget cuts. In addition to the nearly 650 teachers in Sacramento County who received final termination notices in May, “district’s students can expect larger class sizes in kindergarten through third grade, fewer arts and music programs, and fewer assistant principals and librarians.”

In Cleveland, OH, the school board voted in April to trim about a sixth of its teaching staff in the upcoming school year because of budget troubles and a falling number of students, says Cleveland Plain Dealer. The district plans to lay off more than 500 teachers at the end of this school year, as well as shorten the school day through eighth grade by 50 minutes. It will also “cut the number of music, art, library, and gym classes for those students as part of the shuffling of staff to handle the layoffs.”

It’s no surprise Obama left out libraries in his address. In May 2011, the Department of Education eliminated funding for the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program, the only federal program that was solely devoted to school libraries. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI),with strong grassroots support from educators, parents, and students, managed to replace some of that money late last year by securing $28.6 million in federal funds for school libraries and literacy programs for FY 2012 in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill. President Obama signed it into law on December 23, 2011.

“We would like the President, along with all administration officials and members of Congress, to include school librarians when they are speaking about educational professionals at any type of school,” says Jeff Kratz, the American Library Association’s assistant director of the Office of Government Relations.

Federal cuts to school libraries trickle down to school districts nationwide, says the American Library Association. As a result, California has been one of the hardest hit, where the number of certified teacher-librarians has dropped to 895 this school year. The Los Angeles Unified School District also laid off dozens of its library staff, interviewing them for a chance to be reassigned to a classroom.

The Investing in Our Future report offers the President another chance to push a year-old jobs plan he proposed last September, which provides money for states to keep teachers, police officers, and firefighters employed—and comes during an election year.

Cutting teachers is “the opposite of what we should be doing as a country,” Obama said in his address. “States should be making education a priority in their budgets, even in tough fiscal times. And Congress should be willing to help out—because this affects all of us.”

National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel responded to Obama’s address, saying, “we applaud him for that [because] Gov. Romney has made it clear that he doesn’t believe in the impact of keeping class sizes small, despite evidence to the contrary and despite what parents across this country know.”

Van Roekel went on to say that class size is a “critical piece of the school improvement puzzle and we cannot ignore the positive effect that personalized learning has for kids.”

“This report reminds us that we have a choice to make in November between two visions for America. President Obama’s, in which all students deserve a great education; and Gov. Romney’s, in which kids get the best education their parents can afford,” Van Roekel said.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten urged Congress to pass the American Jobs Act.  “These cuts come at a time when we should be increasing our commitment to children and to the public schools that educate 90 percent of them,” he said. “With poverty spiking and student enrollment increasing, it’s more important than ever that every student in our charge is prepared for life, college and career.”