Main description:

The Toxic Schoolhouse is a collection of articles on chemical hazards endangering students, teachers, and staff in the education system of the United States and Canada. Some of the articles were originally published in a special issue of New Solutions: A Journal of Occupational and Environmental Policy, but all have been updated and several new articles have been added. The book is organized in three sections. The first describes problems ranging from the failures of coordination, monitoring, and siting of school buildings to the hazards of exposure to toxic substances, including lead and PCBs. The second section captures the voices of activists seeking change and describes community and union organizing efforts to improve school conditions. The third section covers policy "solutions." The authors include academics, union staff and rank-and-file activists, parent organization leaders, and public health professionals.

Contents:

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction

PART I ~ The Problem

Chapter 1. Who's in Charge of Children's Environmental Health at School?
Jerome Paulson and Claire Barnett

Chapter 2. Who's Sick at School: Linking Poor School Conditions and Health Disparities for Boston's Children
Tolle Graham, Jean Zotter, and Marlene Camacho

June 2012 Update on Who's Sick at School Report
Tolle Graham, Jean Zotter, and Marlene Camacho

Chapter 3. Failing Our Children: Lead in U.S. School Drinking Water
Yanna Lambrinidou, Simoni Triantafyllidou, and Marc Edwards

Chapter 4. PCBs in School-Persistent Chemicals, Persistent Problems
Robert F. Herrick

Update on PCBs in School
Robert F. Herrick

Chapter 5. Healthy School Siting and Planning Policies: Linking Public Health, Education, and the Environment
Alison K. Cohen

PART II ~ Organizing for Change

Chapter 6. "Serving Two Masters"-An Interview with School Teacher and Union Organizer
Debra Askwith
Madeleine Kangsen Scammell and Ema Rodrigues

Chapter 7. "We Can't Give Up, It's Too Important"-Health and Safety Stories from Canadian and U.S. Schools
Dorothy Wigmore

Chapter 8. New Jersey's Union-Centered Healthy Schools Work
Eileen Senn

Chapter 9. Negotiating Indoor Air-Case Report on Negotiation of Teachers' Union, School Board on Air Contaminants
Sarah Gibson and Charles Levenstein

Chapter 10. School Custodians and Green Cleaners:Labor-Environment Coalitions and Toxics Reduction
Laura Senier, Brian Mayer, Phil Brown, and Rachel Morello-Frosch

PART III ~ Advances in Policy

Chapter 11. Integrated Pest Management Policies in America's Schools: Is Federal Legislation Needed?
Andrea Kidd Taylor, Kyle Esdaille, and Jennifer Ames

Chapter 12. Reducing Asthma Triggers in Schools: Recommendations for Effective Policies, Regulations, and Legislation
Joan N. Parker

Chapter 13. Building the New Schoolhouse: The Massachusetts School Building Authority
Jennifer Ames and Charles Levenstein

Contributors
Index