CA Kids & Teachers Deserve Healthier Schools Now
It’s often said that no good crisis should be wasted, and that is a call to action that is especially important to heed as we think about how to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure in a post-COVID world.
California can create safer and more resilient schools for our children with Assembly Bill 841, the Healthy Schools, Healthy Recovery, Healthy Air bill. This legislation would invest hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade HVAC systems in public schools with better air filters and other features. Far too many public school buildings subject children, teachers, and staff to poor indoor air quality. That’s never been acceptable. But in our current COVID reality, it can be life-threatening. AB841 would put people to work to make our schools and classrooms healthier for our kids and the teachers and other frontline staff who are essential to educating our kids and returning our communities to some semblance of normalcy.
A recent UC Davis study has shown that many schools suffer from poor ventilation systems that subject our kids and teachers to unhealthy air quality that can make them more susceptible to airborne diseases. This is especially worrisome as smoke from wildfires and air pollution from trucks and industry continue to plague California communities with some of the worst air quality in the country.
Introduced by Assemblymember Phil Ting, AB841 will be heard by the Senate this weekend. Better World Group is helping to coordinate a remarkably diverse group of advocates — from schoolteachers and administrators to nurses and doctors to environmental, labor and business leaders. They are joining together in a call that now is the time to make an investment in the future of our schools and environment. The case forAB841 is clear:
· Now is the time: Schools across the state are empty, as safer-at-home orders keep students and teachers out of classrooms. Just as California and its cities are using the lull in activity to make road repairs, the pandemic has created a window to immediately refurbish HVAC and other systems in schools in a safe and efficient manner. These needed improvements can and should continue after it is safer for schools to reopen as well.
· Put Californians to work: The state unemployment rate surged during the pandemic, standing at 13 percent in July. AB841 also includes an investment in electric vehicle charging stations and other infrastructure, which can put even more Californians back to work in jobs that prepare the state for a greener future.
· Address health disparities: One of the most heartbreaking aspects of the pandemic has been the disproportionate impact it is having on communities of color who live and work in places facing greater exposure to air toxins, pollution and other environmental injustices. AB841 would target investments in underserved communities and address issues like air pollution and lead contamination in water that hit people of color the hardest.
· No taxpayer funds required: Projects would be paid for by unspent energy efficiency funds that would be reprioritized for school and EV infrastructure improvements. This means we can get good job-creating infrastructure projects going immediately without any budgetary impact to the state.
To learn more about AB841 and to get involved, please visit the campaign’s website here.
