Our School System's Leaders Are In A Politically Created Moral Quandary.

There is no requirement that North Carolina K-12 schools be routinely tested for lead in drinking water, radon gas, or air quality issues like high CO2, high particle matter and undesirable chemicals. Around half of all schools in North Carolina have these invisible issues that lower learning at least one letter grade for all their students. You can see a lot of that peer reviewed literature by clicking here.

Because of actions by our elected officials, North Carolina is one of a minority of states that does not fund building construction and maintenance of all school districts equally. This is doing great damage to a lot of our kids.

Since 2016, our sister organization, The Pollution Detectives Inc., has placed, for free, various kinds of monitors in more than 850 locations in North Carolina to assisted courageous educational and healthcare leaders “make the invisible visible”.  Around half of these surveys reveal conditions that hurt learning directly.

But there is hope - scientific research indicates that when school system's older buildings fix the types of issues identified by our monitors, student learning and health improves considerably. ^(1)(2)(3)

If you and your colleagues followed these role-model leaders, it would accelerate student learning, raise your school system's statewide rank, and increase property values in your community. Costs associated with absenteeism among teachers and students would also decrease, making room for more staff or higher pay.

And yet, when we offer to lend our expensive and sophisticated monitors to educational leaders (for free), the vast majority of them politely decline.

Why?

It has become clearer to us that these professionals face a moral dilemma with no easy solution.

There seem to be two scenarios:

1) School leaders will decline to examine their facilities because

they know that they are already doing everything they can with the funding they have. Without adequate funding, they are powerless to fix classroom conditions that slow learning. When word gets out that a problem exists, parents are angry that school leadership is not protecting their children and the reputation and livelihood of local leaders is at risk.

2) School leaders can use the monitors we confidentially

lend (for free) to survey indoor environmental issues, and when they are found, they make the ongoing damage to learning known. However, they do not have the money to fix these issues.  Again, parents become angry, and again, the reputation and employment of local leaders is at risk.

In both of these scenarios, the root cause of risk to local educational leaders is a state legislature that persistently underfunds school building construction and maintenance.

Equitable funding for capital improvements of K-12 schools would take a lot of this moral dilemma away from educational leadership, and be much fairer to students.

In 2020-21, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction did a survey of how much money was needed to fix, rebuild old, or build new, public schools. That now 4-year-old study estimated that the capital needs of North Carolina schools was around $13 billion over 5 years.⁽⁴⁾

One of the things state elected officials brag about is the non-taxpayer money being raised by the "Educational Lottery". Total revenue per year has grown to just over $1 billion in 2023. But only $500 million of this is targeted for K-12 school building construction and maintenance.⁽⁵⁾

$500 million is less than one-fifth of the $2.5 billion that the Department of Public Instruction says they need every year!

The Legislature says that the state cannot afford more.

And while they are only funding less than one-fifth of the needed annual amount, the same elected officials put in place a law that cuts state taxes for corporations operating in North Carolina from 7.5% in 1997 to 2.5% in 2019.⁽⁶⁾ And current legislation calls for it to continue to drop every year until 2030, when it brings the corporate tax rate to zero - a loss of $2 billion in annual state income.⁽⁷⁾

HMMM...almost the same amount the Department of Public Instruction says it needs.

This is during the same time period that the average individual tax rate remains at 5.25%.⁽⁸⁾

The state could catch up on all money needed to repair our schools in just a few years by restoring state income tax on for-profit corporations to the same percentage as individuals.

So the bottom line is that while the State Department of Public Instruction says we need roughly $13 billion over 5 years to fix issues that lower student learning in half our schools, the politicians are investing about $500 million per year.

By changing our decades-long, dysfunctional, statewide school funding policy and practices, North Carolina can significantly improve the lives and futures of our 1.3 million K-12 students.

But it will not happen unless we make this issue a topic of public discussion. Will you? And make your kids and grandkids proud of you?

Dr. Koster is a retired pediatric healthcare administrator who (as a volunteer) runs The Optimistic Futurist's partner organization, The Pollution Detectives, Inc., a not-for-profit that lends meters and gauges to folks who want to make sure their kids’ schools are safe and optimal for learning.

Learn more on the website or contact Dr. Francis P. Koster.

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Technical Assistance to Apply for Funding

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EPA Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers Program

 The Environment Protection Agency has developed 16 Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs) to help underserved and overburdened communities across the country. EJ TCTACs builds nonprofit capacity to address Environmental Justice (EJ) issues, including the following:

•        Air quality,
•        Water quality,
•        Soil quality,
•        Personal exposure to environmental hazards,
•        Climate change resilience, and
•        Clean energy transitions.

By connecting with experts, other EJ partners, and local and state agencies for technical assistance, organizations can develop strong grant proposals, navigate the federal grant application process, and effectively manage grant funding.

Submit a request for assistance to the EJ TCTAC for your region, shown on the Table!

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Borrow Monitors Without Charge

from Our Sister Organization

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The Pollution Detectives, Inc. has the expertise and the equipment to contribute to a successful indoor air management plan. The 501(c)3 nonprofit provides indoor air monitors to schools without charge to survey for particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and temperature and humidity. Regulating these components of the indoor environment are critical to improving learning.

If you are interested in borrowing monitors and/or in understanding more about the benefits for your school, visit the website or contact Dr. Francis P. Koster at fkoster@thepollutiondetectives.org.

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You are a Stakeholder in the Quest

for Healthy Schools!

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Join us in supporting a $100M annual appropriation for US Environmental Protection Agency's Indoor Air Program. If enacted, the bipartisan Indoor Air Quality and Healthy Schools Act of 2024 would expand the resources EPA dedicates to developing and publicizing guidelines that reduce health hazards from indoor environments in schools. Poor indoor air quality is known to exacerbate chronic conditions already prevalent in schools (such as asthma), increase absenteeism, disrupt focus and concentration, and ultimately, reduce learning. As such, the legislation would impact a wide variety of concerned stakeholders--among them parents, superintendents, school boards, teachers, staff, and other community leaders.

Cosponsored by U.S. Representatives Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), it is endorsed by a diverse array of respected experts and interested organizations, including the following:

Allergy and Asthma Network, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), ASHRAE, American Lung Association, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Austin Air Systems, Ltd., Climate Code Blue, First Focus Campaign for Children, Healthy Schools Network, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), International WELL Building Institute, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Moms Clean Air Force, RMI, National Education Association, Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association (SMACNA), U.S. Green Building Council, and WE ACT for Environmental Justice.

Read testimonials written by the leaders of these institutions.

Read the Indoor Air Quality and Healthy Schools Act of 2024.

To include yourself or your organization among the supporters, submit this simple form provided by Healthy Schools Network, a nonprofit organization that advocates for healthy and safe school environments.

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Research Assistance for Funding

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Looking forward to a project but still lack the funding?

Tell us about your project in an email to

info@theoptimisticfuturist.org.

We will use our resources to search for potential funding sources and contact you with our findings.