By Mark Giardina
Rochester, NY – One key to improving student performance and attendance in schools may have nothing to do with standardized tests and raising standards, but everything to do with the air in classrooms.
State advocates released a parents' right-to-know guide about laws governing safe air and other conditions in schools they say are distracting students, making them sick and affecting their performance.
Specifically, the group criticized the state for failing to establish "report cards" on the indoor environmental health of schools statewide and pushed in Governor Pataki's State of the State address a week ago.
The group wants to strengthen the law that addresses indoor environmental hazards in schools from mold created by leaky roofs to poor ventilation during maintenance and renovation.