Thirty schools in Newark have lead in the water that children drink every day. The New York Times reported that school officials knew about the lead for years. They didn’t tell parents or teachers. Lead is toxic to young children and has lasting effects on their cognitive development.
The city will test children for lead levels in their blood.
While so much attention has centered on Mark Zuckerberg’s gift of $100 million for “reform” and Cami Anderson’s One Newark for an all-choice district, and Cory Booker’s plan to turn every school into a charter school, why didn’t anyone think of making sure that the children of Newark had safe drinking water? Shouldn’t children’s safety come first?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The million dollar quesitons at this point are “Who is conducting the lead level blood tests and how in depth and accurate are the methods used to determine the levels? Who gets to define a “safe” level”? What are the connections between those chosen to test and the officials who knew about the water having lead?”
This country is beginning to suck and resemble a third world nation . . . .
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Beginning to? I think the only thing that’s beginning is people’s awareness.
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Newark needs an independent lab to do the testing. Politicians these days seems to take their cues from the mob. Shameful!
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If philanthropists like Zuckerberg really wanted to make a difference in schools, they could spend their money on improving public education infrastructure and stop and get out of the charter school, standards and teacher evaluation business.
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Diane,
Absolutely 100% Correct!
Thank You
Nick
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Wow. This shows clearly that much of the so called “reform” is led by ideological fixations, and not by actual concern for the well being of the children—both present and future well being.
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Funny (no, not at all) how so-called reform front groups like TFA, StudentsFirst, E4E and others are conspiculously silent about matters like this, despite their hyperventilating that “It’s all about the kids.”
You’d think that Wendy Kopp and others of her ilk would be quick to state that “One Day” students would not be literally poisoned by indifference and neglect, even if they are public school students.
You’d think, but you’d be wrong.
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Wendy Kopp & her TFA Kidlets would never address the poisoning of children, especially low income minority children, because…those poisoned children, most of whom struggle academically already, prior to the poisoning, will NEVER be selected for charter schools, or will be kicked back to the public schools when they show any signs of imperfection.
Researchers have published articles for years about the impact of lead on children and learning. Rarely anyone reads that because it is sooooo 1900s. It it isn’t posted on Twitter, Deformers know zip about it.
Twitter University!
Whose IQ should the public be more concerned about?
Maybe, the ones profiting $B on low scoring (poisoned?) children!
Sick!
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Children’s safety must come first. We must assure they have every educational opportunity. Only public school, fully certified teaches, can make certain all children are properly assessed. http://savingstudents-caplee.blogspot.com/2016/01/education-assessment-must-begin-now-in.html ACT NOW
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For over a decade I’ve been spreading the message of research done involving lead poisoning in children and the effects on long term memory and behavior.
This is a poor children’s problem and to find out they are being poisoned in the very schools where their teachers are being demonized, fired, and abused daily because of the students’ lead poisoning effects is beyond outrageous!
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It is essential to have ongoing multidisciplinary assessments on every child. We will never know how their education was affected until we do. http://savingstudents-caplee.blogspot.com/2016/01/education-assessment-must-begin-now-in.html
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Another tragedy from the fraudulent extreme right in the GOP. Justice moves slow in the U.S. but eventually, maybe, someone will pay one way or the other for the polluted water in Flint and now in Newark.
Changing the subject but not really — what about all the children who hate to drink water and only drink sugar water called Pepsi, Coke, etc?
These children won’t have to worry about the lead in the water at their schools and they certainly aren’t worrying about the damage being done to their bodies from all the sugar they drink.
“Why some kids hate drinking water” from What to Expect
http://www.whattoexpect.com/wom/family-life/1010/why-some-kids-hate-drinking-water.aspx
When I was still teaching, I worked with many students who clearly let it be known they hated water and loved Coke or Pepsi. Of course they were addicted to the sugar. Forbes even reported that sugar was more addictive than cocaine and heroin in “Research Shows Cocaine and Heroin Are Less Addictive Than Oreos
“Even though we associate significant health hazards in taking drugs like cocaine and morphine, high-fat/ high-sugar foods may present even more of a danger because of their accessibility and affordability.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2013/10/16/research-shows-cocaine-and-heroin-are-less-addictive-than-oreos/#7e88d54a4b7b
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The reformers have been telling us that they are interested in outcomes, not excuses about inputs. Thus, the only test results they care about are from standardized academic tests. Water test results are about inputs, just like all the other correlates of poverty. It is perfectly consistent that this condition has been ignored.
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