Support Senate Healthy and High Performance Schools amendment to ESEA

[Guest guest]

AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION

and

HEALTHY SCHOOLS NETWORK, INC.

July 19, 2001

TO < Senate and House Members of ESEA Conference Com>

Re: Support Senate " Healthy and High Performance Schools " amendment to ESEA

The undersigned local, state, and national environment, public health,

parent, labor, and education organizations write to urge you to include

Senator Clinton's " Healthy and High Performance Schools " amendment in the

final conference report for S. 1, the Better Education for Students and

Teachers Act. The amendment was adopted during the Senate's consideration

of S. 1 on June 14.

As you seek to improve educational outcomes for all children and greater

accountability from local schools, we must not allow school facilities

themselves to undermine or threaten children's health or educational

attainment. In 1995 and again in 1999, the US General Accounting Office and

the National Center for Education Statistics documented facility

environmental problems such as indoor air pollution, poor ventilation, poor

lighting and inadequate plumbing and heating that are adversely affecting

child health and learning. Asthma, often triggered by poor indoor air

quality, is the leading cause of school absenteeism. Children who are

absent from school or who are sick while there, will have trouble learning.

While 'green' buildings -- such as the President's new ranch in Texas --

that have superior energy efficiency and indoor air quality are increasingly

common in the private residential and commercial sectors, almost none of the

nation's 91,000 schools have had access to the combined information and

incentives for this kind of commonsense investment in their own facilities.

The nation will clearly not reap the full benefits of its investment in

education without addressing facility environmental quality issues through

carefully targeted actions.

The Senate-passed Healthy and High Performance Schools amendment would

advance educational reform and accountability in two ways. First, the amend

ment would authorize a $2 million 18-month study carried out by the US

Department of Education in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control

and in consultation with the US Environmental Protection Agency and US

Department of Energy to illuminate the impacts of decayed and dilapidated

schools on health and learning, and to recommend ways to assist schools and

to improve the monitoring of conditions. Second, the amendment would

initiate a $50 million High Performance Schools Program at the US Department

of Education that would provide information and education to existing

schools, as well as incentives for investments in energy-efficient,

nonpolluting heating and ventilating and other building systems.

We urge you to include this important public health measure affecting 47.2

million children and 5.6 million school employees in the final conference

report. This provision is vital to improving the learning environments for

millions of our children in thousands upon thousands of communities and

neighborhoods across America.

Sincerely,

Dominican Sisters/Portfolio Advisory Committee (MI)

Advocates for Children of New York

Alabama Public Health Association

Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning

American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees

American Lung Association

American Lung Association of Brooklyn

American Lung Association of New York State

American Lung Association of Pennsylvania

American Lung Association of Washington

American Public Health Association

Arizona Public Health Association

Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America

Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides

CANARI (AL)

Caribbean Women's Health Association (NY)

Center for Environmental Health (CA)

Center for Health, Environment, and Justice

Children's Environmental Health Network

Children's Health Environmental Coalition

Civil Service Employees Association, Local 1000, AFSCME (NY)

Coalition for Environmentally Safe Schools (WA)

Coalition for Justice and Community Understanding (CT)

Community Environmental Health Strategies (VT)

Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists

Eco-Integrations, Inc.

Encouraging Alternatives to Chemical Hazards (NC)

Environmental Advocates of New York State

Fulton IAQ Task Force (NY)

Funders Forum for Environment and Education

Healthy Buildings Network

Healthy Schools Network, Inc.

Healthy Kids: The Key to Basics (MA)

Houston Indep. School Dist.-Houston City Dept. of Health School-Based/Linked

Health (TX)

IAQ Project/Mid-West Universities Radon Consortium (MN)

Improving Kids' Environment (IN)

Indoor Environment Communications

Informed Choices (LA)

Institute for Children's Environmental Health (WA)

League of Women Voters of Thurston County (WA)

Learning Disabilities Association of America

MCS Referral & Resources, Inc.

Maine Public Health Association

land Public Health Association

Massachusetts Association of the Chemically Injured

Massachusetts Federation of Teachers, AFT, AFL-CIO

Massachusetts Healthy Schools Network

Massachusetts Parent Teacher Association

Massachusetts Public Health Association

Minnesota Children's Health Environmental Coalition

National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners

National Association of School Nurses

National Center for Environmental Health Strategies, Inc.

National Education Association

National Education Association of New York

National Environmental Education and Training Foundation

National Lead Assessment and Abatement Council

Natural Resources Defense Council

New Jersey Work Environment Council

New York City Schools Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council

New York City Environmental Justice Alliance

New York Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides

New York State Association of School Nurses

New York State Congress of Parents and Teachers (NYS PTA)

New York State United Teachers

Our Children's Earth (CA)

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Public Health Association of New York City

Safer Pest Control Project (IL)

San Francisco Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility

Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment (NJ)

University of Wisconsin/Oshkosh College of Nursing

Vermont Public Interest Research Group

Washington State Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Network

Washington State Public Health Association

West Harlem Environmental Action (NY)

For more information:

L. Barnett, Executive Director Hoppert, Federal Affairs

Healthy Schools Network, Inc. American Public Health Association

773 Madison Avenue 800 I Street, NW

Albany, NY 12208 Washington, DC 20001

www.healthyschools.org www.apha.org

tel-518-462-0632 tel-202-777-2514