DRAFT Op-Ed for National Healthy Schools Day
Women, Children, and the Environment: What’s Happening at Your School?
(your name, org, date)
Nine of ten school occupants nationwide are women and children: in fact, over 55 million children and seven million adults, that’s 20% of the U.S. population, are in schools every day. More densely occupied than offices and in worse shape than prisons, school buildings are not what most people think about during the school year or even during Earth Week. Maybe they should.
Children need clean air outside, and they need clean air inside. US Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that half of schools have indoor pollution problems that are largely avoidable. And the Institute of Medicine recently reported that polluted indoor environments are already damaging the nation’s health and learning, and recommended preventing exposures indoors. Further, according to the CDC childhood Asthma rates are on the rise, and the prevalence of autism has become ever greater.
Our schools simply have not been designed, built, and operated to be environmentally responsible to the most vulnerable occupants - our children and women of child-bearing age. But, fortunately, for women and children, times are changing: both the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Education are encouraging state agencies and local schools to take action, and for good reasons. First, it makes sense, of course children need a healthy environment, and second, it saves money in the long run to prevent pollution, instead of remediating it later at enormous costs. And third, it’s good for education: healthy indoor environments boost attendance and achievement, and help with teacher recruitment, retention and productivity.
However, across the country states have been falling behind on school facilities spending and construction. In fact, the Center for Cities + Schools at the University of California Berkeley found that 15 States provide no funding at all for K-12 facilities.
(in our city-state/customize with your example)
Indoor actions by schools across the country include: seeking out and buying less-hazardous products to use indoors; having hard surface flooring to make it easier to clean; removing water-damaged carpeting; phasing in certified green cleaning products to reduce or eliminate toxic chemicals, and eliminating air fresheners and room deodorizers; disposing of old-outdated and hazardous chemicals to reduce the risks of spills and injuries; keeping food and pets out of classrooms to reduce pest infestations; and de-cluttering a classroom to make the room easier to clean at the end of the day. Topping this off with advanced energy efficient lighting and ventilating systems will add even more savings long-term.
On this year’s National Healthy Schools Day, (your closing line – we thank our school for the work it is doing to make it a healthier, greener place for our children and teachers; or, we urge our schools to focus on the health and well-being of the occupants as it makes decisions on cleaning and maintenance for the coming year….)