This issue has direct educational and health consequences for kids.  For example, poor acoustics and indoor air quality hurt performance in the classroom.  Mold and improper ventilation are linked to respiratory troubles such as asthma.  Schools with poor facilities have higher teacher turnover, which also directly affects student learning.

AFT is advocating for new investments in school construction and rehabilitation.  We’re also calling for changes in how schools are built. We’re asking AFT members across the country to join this effort by checking out this part of the AFT website, which includes links to our report and others on this topic, video and lots of pictures of schools. It also gives parents and school staff the chance to take our online survey and has information on how they can help with the campaign.  And if the school you work in is in disrepair, please send us a photo at psrp@aft.org. We’ll be updating the site and using these photos in our campaign.

We’ve asked some of our favorite teachers who blog to post on how the quality of the facility they work in affects their interaction with kids.  The first are by Teacher Ken over at Daily Kos and Julie at School of Blog.  The Rain at I Thought a Think and A History Teacher have weighed in on how having a really good facility to teach in can make a difference.  And Mr AB writes in from the trenches to remind us that this can be a life or death issue.  Finally, Ms. Cornelius closes out our show with a post called Another Brick in the Wall, and the Ceiling is Leaking. Its about running a gauntlet of school  facility problems, including mold that led her to get an inhaler.  Check them all out.  
 
Our thanks go out to our fellow teacher bloggers for taking the time to weigh in on this issue because, as one teacher in Guam put it: “I believe learning is affected when it rains in the room.”