A teacher in the District of Columbia wrote about the hidden scandal in public education: crumbling buildings.
She writes:
For all the debate about why schools should not open … the most obvious elephant in the room is invisible or just a footnote in most discussions. Yes… schools are crowded, yes… the government is not giving timely funding for the necessary PPE and such… and there are SO MANY reasons I could provide as to the dangers at this current time from early childhood issues to teen issues. But the glaring one involves a problem that has existed LONG before the pandemic, but would now be impossible “to fix” in order to make schools safe to open this fall.
US public school buildings are falling apart and have been for years. My school has a rampant mold problem. Two years ago we had a terrible rainy summer and came back to see that the mold was no longer hidden and just “peeking through, but rather was everywhere. I had a giant black clump of black mold on my ceiling in one spot where there is always moisture under normal circumstances. Mold was everywhere – hallways, classrooms, floors…. Was there mold abatement? No. They took ceiling tiles out, cleaned cursorily here and there for “cosmetic appeal”. They finally closed the school down over a weekend in mid fall and turned up all the heaters on high and opened windows and doors all weekend. The spores may have gone into dormancy – that is all. They would perk up as soon as pipe condensation started up when the AC came on in spring. At the end of the school year summer school was held at my school and the can was pushed further down the road for repairs and abatement.
That “road” never came. The custodian was told by his superiors to just replace ceiling tiles. I would regularly spray the obvious mold patch in my ceiling with hydrogen peroxide (bought on my own dime) knowing that this mold could not be healthy for little ones lungs!
Why bring all this up? Our school also has heat and AC issues… filters not fitting properly when replaced etc. My school is NO DIFFERENT than so many public schools in America. Even if the government did give over funding (even right away in March) it would take years to bring the buildings up to safety standards under normal conditions. All kinds of respiratory illnesses abound in my school and schools in other areas of the country too (have teacher friends in different places). This vulnerability would make our young as well as staff even more vulnerable in a very dangerous time.
So, do we send our students back to schools that make them vulnerable under ordinary circumstances? I have a feeling that S. Korea and schools in Europe are paying attention to school infrastructure so it really is a matter of organizing space, schedules to reduce numbers of students at any one time and adding PPE and cleaning.
NOT IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS… they are unsafe to begin with. This is the big elephant in the room.
Thank god my region made a smart decision and very early and set the tone for the entire metro DC/VA/MD area.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I was on ZOOM yesterday with 9 other teachers from across this country. They are WORRIED about going back to school and safety issues related to Covid-19. I am also very concerned about their health and safety as well as their students and families.
Opening schools is STUPID. People will die as Covid-19 spreads … and rapidly, too.
Questions:
WHO pays for the medical and hospital costs? The School District?
Are there testing and contact tracers in place?
What are the protocols when, not if, an outbreak occurs?
How many dead Americans will be enough for that dolt and traitorous liar, the dump?
Wonder what bounty Russia is paying that dump for every dead public school teacher in America? This is not a joke question.
“This is not a joke question.”
Yes, it is, it’s just not funny. Bountygate, like all of Russiagate, has been debunked. Please read non-mainstream news sources. This constant Russia bashing is moronic and dangerous. What’s the end game here? Do you really want a war with Russia? How do you think that’s going to work?
https://consortiumnews.com/2020/07/05/bountygate-scapegoating-systemic-military-failure-in-afghanistan/
Incidentally, the idea that Trump has been “soft” on Russia is also dangerous propaganda: https://consortiumnews.com/2019/11/19/25-times-trump-has-been-dangerously-hawkish-on-russia/
Go ahead and hate Trump – there is plenty to despise. But please realize how that hatred is getting channeled into hatred of Russia for the express purpose of ginning up support for further military engagements, either with Russia directly or a proxy war in, say, Syria. This is incredibly dangerous provocation or a nuclear-armed nation. Please stop for everyone’s safety and sanity.
Anyone who thinks Trump is tough on Putin has an agenda. Probably Trump’s. We have eyes and ears.
So right, Dienne, no one in the mainstream media agrees with the alternative facts you believe in. Nor does the CIA or British intelligence. I wonder why you are so skeptical of professional conclusions and so willing to accept the unverified, unsubstantiated opinions of those with no access to classified information about Russia. Putin is a brutal tyrant who jails and kills dissidents. He recently maneuvered an election that extended his time in power to 2036. Did you hear about that? Do they also write about the joys of living in North Korea?
Read the links, Diane. Open your mind and break out of the propaganda that the mainstream media is feeding you. They are all owned by huge corporations that benefit from corporate narratives. They exist to serve power, not to inform.
If you read the links I post and care to dispute the facts presented therein, I’m happy to discuss. But don’t just dismiss alternative sources without being willing to engage them. Once you see, you can’t unsee.
Sorry, Dienne, I trust mainstream media and American intelligence agencies, not Putin and his disinformation machine.
BTW, Diane, do you dispute that episodes like the Bay of Pigs, Gulf of Tonkin, My Lai, the Iraq War, etc. were all government misinformation (distributed by the mainstream media)? Would you say that that misinformation had a reason behind it and that it almost or even did lead to disastrous consequences? So then why is it so incomprehensible that Russiagate/Bountygate/Vaccinegate, etc. are just more of the same? Why are you so willing to unquestioningly believe what these same actors tell you? Why the resistance to alternate sources who are trying to tell us how we’re being lied to yet again?
Whataboutism does not make Putin no different from us.
Name a president in the US who murdered journalists, dissidents, and exiles.
Name an American president who rigged an election to add 16 years to his already long term in office.
“Name a president in the US who murdered journalists, dissidents, and[/or] exiles.”
Barack Obama
Which journalists and dissidents did Obama murder?
Notice I added an or to your thought.
For starters: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2014/mar/19/kesha-rogers/four-us-citizens-killed-obama-drone-strikes-3-were/
and
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/30/obama-killed-a-16-year-old-american-in-yemen-trump-just-killed-his-8-year-old-sister/
I asked you to name a journalist or dissident that Obama murdered. You didn’t.
I also put an “or” in your statement in responding to it, because the and would indicate that all three mentioned would have to have happened. That is a specious bar to set. As it is Al-Awaki and his son were dissidents so that satisfied one of the three areas you mentioned.
But that doesn’t matter as Obama ordered the killing of American citizens who had no legal recourse whatsoever. You’re fine with a president being able to order the death of an American citizen without any judicial proceedings whatsoever? Wow!
What is it Niemoller said about “First they came for. . . ”
Because once that law breaking behavior has been sanctioned future presidents will gladly use those powers themselves.
An aside, we are currently in a “no accountability for government officials at all levels”. That started the day that Ford pardoned Nixon. And that lack of accountability is manifesting itself quite explicitly in what #45 does on a daily basis, just like all the prior occupants of that office since Ford did that dirty deed.
Duane,
I don’t approve of any state-sanctioned killing. Unlike you, I can’t kill a fish. But to compare Obama to a tyrant and murderer like Putin is absurd.
I read the first link, Dienne. Interesting and informative. Even though it’s an opinion piece, there’s masterful marshaling of policy history, and full details on the intelligence that led to the conclusion about bounties on US soldiers. I like the fact that it’s very clear which is info and which author’s opinion, so reader can easily set opinion on the side while learning a great deal. Just the first couple of paras of info are enough to call the bounty story into question. Doesn’t mean it mightn’t ultimately turn out to be true, but the CIA, NSA, & NCC make clear in their vetting that the intelligence collected was insufficient substantiation. I love that they link you to precise agency definitions of levels of confidence: CIA & NCC judged the bounty story “moderate confidence” which definitions show is hardly a green light. NSA said “low confidence” (which is scathing). Fine reporting here. And certainly no Russia-loving going on. The story does not “debunk” the bounty story. But makes you wonder why they brought this mishmosh of intelligence to WH at all, much less under that banner. Seems premature & way too complex & nuanced– nothing actionable there.
Democratic Party apparatchik would never address the historical lies of the CIA since their first ‘victories,” the overthrow of the elected governments of Iran and Guatemala— nor the copying of MSM first brought to light with the revelations surrounding Operation Mockingbird Bountygate is therefore an accepted truth here. Vallient effort Dienne. Oh, and yes: Obama prosecuted/persecuted more journalists than all presidents before him.
Richard, how many journalists did Zovama assassinate?
Dienne, I am less sanguine about the 2nd article listing 25 dangerously hawkish moves by Trump against Russia. There are definitely a few in there that are dangerous moves, the ones that undo safeguards against nuclear war (one of the worst of which was organized under Obama). But the others seem either strategic, or measured responses to Russian aggression. Mainly, the article is a good response to CNN’s article claiming Trump is soft on Russia. That seems to be a lot of hot air, mostly generated by Trump to sound like he’s fulfilling a campaign promise, contradicted by actions taken.
It’s hard not to notice that Trump turns to jelly in the presence of Putin. Either he worships Putin or Putin holds something over Trump. Probably the billions Trump borrowed from Russian oligarchs.
This is why teaching media literacy and critically thinking is so important. Making sure we understand the source, who owns the publication/site and if there are vetted journalists – and a system of of checks before news is published.
While nothing is 100% perfect all the time….I’ll stick with NPR, Wapo and Mika, Joe and Willie. (And Diane!!)
In my experience writing for mainstream media, the best publications (the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New York Review of Books) check every fact carefully, especially when they appear in writings by outside contributors. That’s expensive to pay fact-checkers. Every once in a while, there is a slip up, and the publication is embarrassed. Small opinion journals tend to be highly ideological. They can’t afford fact checkers. They build readership by printing extreme views. Interesting to read but not an impartial source.
I agree, broad-brush, Diane, but I like the idea of finding some supplementary sources specializing in investigative, in-depth journalism. We see how little of it there is in MSM just in following education. (Luckily we have you for that, you bring all the facts to our doorstep.) Consortium for Independent Journalism is the project of investigative reporter Robert Parry, who ran it for 23 yrs until his death [2018]. He worked for AP ’74-’87, then Newsweek a few yrs, then PBS Frontline a few yrs before starting his own journal. Renown particularly for investigating Iran-Contra affair & “Oct Surprise conspiracy theory;” a string of major journalism prizes in latter yrs. Media Bias/ Fact Check rates them “mildly-liberal bias,” and “mostly factual [never failed a fact-check, but occasionally use loaded words, & should be transparent about funding]. Their detailed analysis includes: “Consortium News has experts from various backgrounds and not just pure journalist which also helps with its reporting to keep it as centered as one can get these days..”
Children and COVID-19: State Data Report
A joint report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association
Summary of publicly reported data from 49 states, NYC, DC, PR, and GU Version: 7/30/20
Click to access AAP%20and%20CHA%20-%20Children%20and%20COVID-19%20State%20Data%20Report%207.30.20%20FINAL.pdf
Republicans are trying to stage some anti-Biden political theater by calling for more investigations into Hunter Biden and Ukraine. If Republicans pull off this stunt, I hope someone in New York leaks Trump’s taxes or some other damaging material. I hate to say it, but it is time to fight fire with fire.
This is not a hidden scandal. It’s been going on for years. Every year teachers, parents and students post pictures of temperatures in hot classrooms at the beginning of school year. There are pictures of children wearing coats in classrooms with ice on the inside of classrooms from broken pipes/no heating in the winter. Stories and pictures everywhere about the awful condition of buildings in general….rats, mold, broken desks/chairs etc. There is plenty of money for the stupid testing (online), the ridiculous ed tech and other deforms, but no money for the actual buildings (or teachers). If parents don’t want to send their children into unsafe conditions, the ed tech folks will be glad to sell parents and school systems some wonderful new way to “edumacate” the kids. There is a purpose to this madness.
The disrepair in public schools is symptomatic of the widespread disinvestment in public education that has been happening in the past ten or twenty years. It is worse in urban and rural areas. Washington, D.C. should be collecting lots of taxes from some of the fancier neighborhoods. Maybe this is why D.C. wants state status; the money does not “trickle down.”
You are right, retired teacher.
But those that actually live in the “fancier” areas of DC all pay to send their kids to really fancy private schools. They don’t really care about the kids/families in the run down, slum areas and can afford to turn a blind eye to that aspect of living in DC.
Things are especially bad in inner city schools in poor neighborhoods.
It’s hard to deny that there is a racial component to the issue.
Governor’s need to be called out on this — and on the general refusal to fund schools.
And it’s not just Republican governor’s.
Andrew Cuomo has been denying NY schools billions of dollars of legally mandated funds for years.
It’s not just inner city. The poor suburban community school I work at is falling apart–asbestos, a huge mouse problem, falling ceiling tiles, many classrooms without windows or any kind of egress in an emergency, no air conditioning, only swamp coolers, which cause mold, an ancient boiler system. We were promised for four bonds now to get a new building. They have never delivered, in favor of building a bunch of brand-new Taj Mahal buildings in wealthier areas of the district. The newest bond was supposed to be last fall, but about a year ago they decided to move the bond election–to this fall. Will never get a new building now.
As in every other aspect, the condition of one’s district school buildings is a direct reflection of the wealth of the local residents. The outrage described here would never, has never occurred in my central NJ town. BOE meetings are mobbed w/parents if it’s suggested K class cap be raised to 25. Mold, holes in floor, rats etc as are well-known in nearby Newark’s schbldgs? Not for us. The only people who live here are those who can afford local tax bills often as not higher than their mortgage pmts.
And that’s the real elephant in the room.
We also have the 800-# gorilla. NJ is one of the few states w/a Robin Hood state school aid policy. Ours & other wealthy communities send nearly every penny to poor districts. Last time I looked we got 4% of school budget from the state. We spend $14k per pupil, Newark spends over $20k. Where does it go? Not to fixing boilers. Under Christie [/ Obama/ Duncan], Newark kids got thrown out of longtime nbhd schools & offered “school choice.” Something’s rotten in Trenton.
Robbin the hood
Robbin’ the hood
Of public schools
Filln’ with flood
Of charter tools
Out of the wood
With his Merry Men
Robbin the Hood
Has struck again
“AMERICAN SCHOOLS… they are unsafe to begin with. This is the big elephant in the room. ”
This is an old problem. Rural schools were closed in the rush to consolidate in the 1970s. This resulted from philosophy, but also from rural de-population in the face of a changing agricultural technology. so also with the areas where the mines were the only employment.
Today we see the decay of the formerly proud areas of the country. Our cities, once proud, dynamic providers of intellectual sustenence now are home to decaying infrastructure. Americans have a slash and burn approach to urbanization.
Public schools are usually safer than charter schools. For example in my earthquake state of California charter schools do NOT have to meet strict earthquake standards for housing students.
When passing charter laws, most states did not fund buildings for charter schools.
Thank you Diane Ravitch for disavowing yiyrformer stance. “By the time Reagan left office, U.S. education had been transformed, not yet in its operations but in its aspirations; not so much in its effectiveness as in the country’s insistence that it become more effective. By 1989, George H. W. Bush practically had to declare that he would be the “education president.” And that parade of governors began to come to Washington to help reshape and redirect it: Alexander to work with Bush, then Clinton joined by Riley, and now another prominent “education ex-governor” in George W. Bush.”
https://www.nationalreview.com/2004/06/original-education-president-chester-e-finn-jr/
Amen to American public schools are unsafe to begin with.
During my teaching career, especially in the last decade up to 2005 when I retired, I had infections that started in my sinus that traveled into my lungs every year. My classrooms had leaky roofs, building floors, old carpets that were soggy every rainy season, and inadequate cleaning even on the best of days. Eventually, I bought a vacuum cleaner and portable HEPA filters to help. I arrived an hour or two before my first class, and the first thing I did was take out that vacuum and use it on that old, moldy looking carpet. I could hear all the debris being sucked in that the night janitor had not cleaned up.
Near the end, I kept a respirator mask in the room. When I was alone working early in the morning or after school, I’d wear it. When I had it on, the headaches and wheezing went away.
This is what I wore at school to stop the wheezing and headaches that didn’t start until a few minutes after I entered my classroom each morning. A half-hour after I drove home each day, the headaches and wheezing would go away, too.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-Pro-Medium-Multi-Purpose-Respirator-with-Quick-Latch-Case-of-4-65023QLHA1-C/206410930
I haven’t had one sinus infection or an attack of bronchitis or asthma since I retired. Not once, and I still have that mask that I only wear if I am working with an oil bases stain on one of my woodworking projects.
Had past colleagues die of cancer. Asbestos abatement going on when I was a CPS student and still when I am a teacher. At least I am upstairs with older kids so no mold problems.
As a former foster care advocate in DC, and former Special egg shin teacher in 4 local counties, I think we know more about the inside of jails than the interior of some schools. I have seen student restrooms with no doors. I have reported padlocked fire doors, and one of my daughter’s then 4th grade portable classrooms had the highest carbon dioxide level ever measured in a Montgomery County (Md) classroom. I was sent thank you notes by the teachers for reporting that situation and getting the MCPS staff to take air samples. So the conditions are bad but teachers are afraid to report the issues — risky professionally. I anonymously contacted some key MCPS people when I was exposed to mislabeled butoxy ethanol ( in a barrel marked citric acid) used to remove graffiti that then sickened several teachers when it went into the vent system. So, in sum, air quality and building safety issues abound, but it takes real leadership to protect students and staff. Many times that leadership is lacking. Why can’t reoorters literally drive by these obviously run down buildings and pop in for a quick tour and then relay that to readers ? I often wonder that myself.
So awful. Really unbelievable.
And that’s Montgomery County, let alone DCPS (I went to Dunbar, which had a new building, but seeing Anacostia HS’s building left me sick!).
We need “New Deal” type programs to heavily improve school and medical infrastructure…..rally our country around and create jobs…… and how about investing in a system of safe bike trails for people to use and travel on – while I am dreaming.
I’m dreaming with you, then!
Thank you for this reminder of the long-term state of things, Diane: re-blogging…
Shira