Chicago's schools are in disrepair. Rehab to create green schools should be a priority.

Imagine walking down the hall of your school and seeing part of the ceiling caved in or a "danger" sign warning of asbestos. That’s what greeted students and staff at George Washington High School on the Southeast Side recently.

At Minnie Miñoso Academy, a South Side elementary school, lead paint was found chipping from the ceilings and walls in a special education classroom. At Jahn Elementary, mold was found in classrooms.

These are just a few of the dangerous, toxic conditions Chicago Public Schools students and staff face in their buildings every day. But these three schools have something other than health hazards in common: Serving students that are predominantly low-income, Black and Brown students, many from communities that suffer some of the worst pollution and environmental toxin exposure in our city.

This is why the Chicago Teachers Union is making safe, healthy, green schools a priority demand in its next contract with the district.

Our students deserve to learn in safe, healthy environments, but in CPS, too often that learning is disrupted. Heating and cooling systems don’t work, leaving classrooms too hot or too cold. Windows often don’t open and, when they do, in many communities the air is unfit to breathe. Our members report that students come to class hungry and thirsty because school lunches are inedible and the water is undrinkable.

The average age of CPS school buildings is 84, twice the national average, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Greenhouse gas emissions from those buildings are equal to emissions from 900 rail cars of coal. The district acknowledges that schools across the city have fallen into disrepair and need $3 billion in upgrades.

Looking for federal support

The question before CPS CEO Pedro Martinez and CPS Board members is whether they will work collaboratively with the CTU to apply for historic amounts of federal support to upgrade and decarbonize aging facilities. Or, will they halt the momentum both parties have built that enabled CPS to win a grant to fund 50 electric school buses?

Band-Aids will not suffice. We have a historic opportunity to transform our school system and ensure new investments address climate change and create climate equity for our Black and Brown neighborhoods. Our union wants to partner with CPS to create a healthy, safe, sustainable, green school district, and we’ve presented a proposals to get us there:

• Remove all hazards and toxins, such as lead, asbestos and mold, from all school buildings. 
• Replace outdated heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems with renewable energy and retrofit schools to cut energy costs by 30% next year. 
• Create green energy career and technical education programs, with green jobs pathways for students to train them to be climate change leaders.  
• Create more green spaces at schools to ensure students can learn in safe, joyful environments. 
• Provide healthy school lunches, cooked in school kitchens, and give students agency to determine meal options. 

Federal and state governments are offering grants to meet these climate change goals. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law offers grants to schools and other nonprofits to improve energy efficiency, provide clean drinking water and remove lead contaminants from schools. The Inflation Reduction Act provides tax credits to fund the installation of solar panels and electric heat pumps in schools. A state program allows CPS to earn renewable energy credits that help offset the cost of solar panel installation.

For generations, Chicago’s Black and Brown neighborhoods, where a majority of CPS families live, have been used as dumping grounds for industrial waste, noxious gas and other poisons. Students from these communities come to school with asthma and other health problems made worse by the unsafe school conditions.

Addressing facilities needs must be done in a proactive, climate-resilient, equitable way that centers student needs. CTU is ready to partner with CPS to create a healthy, green sustainable school district that could be a model for districts across the country.

CEO Martinez, are you ready to join us?

Jackson Potter is vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union.  

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