This summer, schools in Minnesota and South Carolina, two of ten schools nationally, that received EPA awards for healthier indoor environments were spurred on by parents who first came to the Healthy Schools Network for assistance. Barnett is an active member of the American Public Health Association, has served as an adviser to the American Academy of Pediatrics, and is currently serving on US EPA's Office of Child Health Protection federal advisory committee. The amendment, sponsored by US Senator Hillary Clinton and others, is part of S1, the Better Education for Students and Teachers Act. A joint conference committee of the Senate and House will begin negotiations on the education package in the coming weeks. APHA believes that every child and school employee should have a right to an environmentally safe and healthy school that is clean and in good repair.
Children are uniquely vulnerable to environmental hazards.
Too many schools have poor ventilation or air contaminated by molds or chemicals. This is a public health and education crisis that Congress must act on. We strongly support Senator Clinton's amendment that will bring together for the first time public health and education expertises to help solve the problems that thousands of schools, parents, and personnel across the country are now facing alone. Studies by the US General Accounting Office and the National Center for Education Statistics have documented the neglect and decay of school facilities. In addition to the need to build more classrooms, the studies documented the need to address serious environmental problems that are impacting children's environmental health and safety.