Topics: High Performance School
In your mind’s eye, picture three students getting ready to leave for school in the morning—maybe cramming last minute for an upcoming exam. Each one attends a different school, but the situations are all pretty much the same. Imagine them arriving and mingling with classmates before the bell. As each student looks around, what will she see? What does he hear? What do their school buildings look like and how old are they? Have they been freshly painted? Ever painted? What do the roofs look like? Is there construction going on nearby? What do you see in your mind’s eye?
If you pictured a rundown building in desperate need of repairs, you’re probably right. The reality is that one of the three students you pictured is about to attend a school that is crumbling. A crumbling school is just what it sounds like –a school that is literally falling apart.
Today, more than 14 million children attend classes in deteriorating facilities; the average U.S. public school is over 40 years old.[1] In the worst of them, sewage backs up into halls and classrooms, rain pours through leaky roofs and ruins computers and books, and sinks hang off the walls in the bathrooms.
“The message these kids get when they look up and see their classroom ceiling leaking and falling in is, ‘I don’t matter’,” said Lily Eskelsen, Vice-President of the NEA. “How can we expect students to achieve in this environment? Given that 35% of America’s schools have similar conditions, this is a national crisis. We need to repair our public schools to keep our children healthy and allow them to learn.”
A recent article in Parade magazine reported that children who attend schools that are in subpar condition score up to 10 percentile points lower on standardized tests, even after controlling for poverty. Schools with poor infrastructure often get too hot or too cold, and can exhibit other distracting conditions that make them unpleasant and uncomfortable places in which to study, learn, and teach.
At least a third of America’s 80,000 public schools are in need of extensive repair and at least two-thirds have unhealthy environmental conditions.[2] There is no question that the job of transforming America’s unhealthy school buildings into clean and safe places in which to teach and learn is an enormous task, but it is an urgent one, as well. We must have a public school system that inspires students and educators alike to perform at their very best.
In coordination with the Center for Green Schools, located at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), NEA and NEA HIN are supporting the Green Apple Day of Service. The Green Apple Day of Service will be held on Saturday, September 29th, to unite those who are committed to making our schools healthier and safer. On that day, advocates from across the country and around the world will come together in support of healthy, sustainable schools by taking real action in their communities. This summer, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, a member of the U.S. Green Building Council Advisory Board, called on NEA members to get involved and to help make a difference by participating in Green Apple Day of Service.
What is the Green Apple Day of Service?
The Green Apple Day of Service is a movement that organizes activities and brings together people who are interested in getting involved in service projects designed to make improvements to schools in their communities. The Green Apple Day of Service web site displays a map of all existing projects that are scheduled for September 29th around the world—and perhaps in your community—in which you can participate. Or, if you have an idea for a different project, you can start your own or share your story about a school in your community. You can also learn about existing ideas and projects from a webinar led by NEA member Pat Nicholson and archived on the on the Green Apple Day of Service website.
Here are some other ways that you can get involved with this effort.
- To learn more about Indoor Environmental Quality, visit our IEQ page.
- Take NEA’s online course, “What’s Your IEQ? A Roadmap to School Indoor Environmental Quality” to learn about mold, asbestos, and other pollutants and how you can organize around IEQ as a local association. To take the course visit www.neaacademy.org.
- Let us know how crumbling schools are affecting you. Tell us your story about crumbling schools by leaving a comment on this page or posting to our Facebook page or Twitter account.
Through our collective efforts on Sept. 29, we have the ability to create spaces that eliminate toxins and allergens in the atmosphere and maximize fresh air that helps to reduce asthma and other common ailments in children. We can fix temperature and noise issues and optimize daylight, thus enhancing students’ comfort and their ability to concentrate. We can all come together to support environments that improve students’ ability to learn and teachers’ ability to teach, while at the same time bettering our surrounding communities.
Students and schools need our help. Learn about the issues. Get Involved. Make real change.