Half of kids tested in Detroit Public Schools have history of lead poisoning

[Hannah Bell]

High lead levels hurt learning for DPS kids
More than half of students tested have poisoning history

BY TINA LAM and KRISTI TANNER-WHITE
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

More than half of the students tested in Detroit Public Schools have a history of lead poisoning, which affects brain function for life, according to data compiled by city health and education officials.

The data also show, for the first time in Detroit, a link between higher lead levels and poor academic performance. About 60% of DPS students who performed below their grade level on 2008 standardized tests had elevated lead levels.

The higher the lead levels, the lower the MEAP scores, though other factors also may play a role.

The research -- the result of an unusual collaboration between the city's Department of Health & Wellness Promotion and DPS -- also reveals that children receiving special education were more likely to have lead poisoning.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?Avis=C4&Dato=20100516&Kategori=NEWS01&Lopenr=5160413&Ref=AR&template=fullarticle


Charter schools will fix that.

According to Bob Bobb, the hand-picked dictator charterizing Detroit Ed, it's about bad teachers, corrupt unions & their useless rules, undisciplined homes & worthless, drug-addicted parents.

How could lead or the fact that Detroit has FIFTY PERCENT UNEMPLOYMENT & 1/3 of its population living below the poverty line possibly affect learning?

[ljm2002]

1. Thank you for continuing to bring these issues to our attention.

There is tragedy writ large in that report, and in your last remark: "How could lead or the fact that Detroit has FIFTY PERCENT UNEMPLOYMENT & 1/3 of its population living below the poverty line possibly affect learning?"

50% unemployment. Geez, it is hard to even fathom this in the good old USA. The richest, most powerful nation on earth. And this is what we can do for our citizens: nothing, nada, zero, zilch. Because it's all about "personal responsibility", at least for you and me. For the plutocrats, not so much.

[Hannah Bell]

2. here's some cites, which i neglected; for those who might kick about it

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/16/detroits-unemployment-rat_n_394559.html

http://www.detroitkidsdata.org/dkdquickfacts.htm

[iamtechus]

4. Only one of the 3 cites (freep.com) mentions the source of the lead:

The lead-based paint used in many older houses. It's truly shameful that we've known about this for decades but nothing has been done. Wouldn't those children be better-off living in FEMA trailers?

[Xithras]

17. According to the EPA, 87% of U.S. homes have lead based paint somewhere in them.

Because 90% of homes predate the 1978 lead paint ban, because nearly all of them used lead based paint, and because only a small percentage have been remediated. Most, at this point, have the lead paint sealed under several layers of latex paint, but the lead is still there.

[leftstreet]

3. K&R

[Catshrink]

5. So? It's the teachers' fault the children can't learn.

No excuses. :sarcasm:

Seriously, who would want to teach in those schools with compensation tied to test scores?

[Brickbat]

6. Seems to me a bunch of lead-free paint and a week's employment for the painters union would be a

better investment than wrecking public schools as we know it in an effort to bow down to the slave of test results.

[Gaedel]

8. You don't just paint over it.

You have to sand down to the bare wood with the sanders wearing full protective gear and the building sealed while they are working. Once the place has been completely sterilized of dust from the sanding, then you can come in and begin painting. Virtually all of the housing stock (what is left of it) in the city predates 1955 when the city was pretty much completely built out.

[Brickbat]

9. Sounds like an even better investment to me.

[FarCenter]

10. It's better to strip it or to replace painted woodwork or to sheetrock over lead painted plaster

Sanding produces too much dust.

[Xithras]

16. Encapsulants are superior to removal.

Lead paint removal converts some of the paint to dust and moves it into the environment. As recently as 10 years ago this was still considered to be the best long term solution, but that's not the case anymore. LeadStop, ChildGuard, and other encapsulants can be painted directly over the lead based paint, permanently sealing it away. Some encapsulants also contain bittering agents which give the paint an extremely bitter taste. If a child attempts to chew through the encapsulating layer, the bittering agent will send them screaming to mommy for a drink of water to get rid of the horrible taste.

Encapsulants must still be applied professionally (unlike paint, they must be applied with specific minimum thicknesses), but they're only about 10% of the cost of completely stripping and refinishing a home.

[Starry Messenger]

7. This story should be getting more attention.

If this were happening to white middle class families in Berkeley this would be on the front pages of newspapers. It's a disaster. x(

[Hannah Bell]

11. kik

[Hannah Bell]

13. k

[Tailormyst]

12. Clearly the answer is to fire all the teachers!

:sarcasm:

[Hannah Bell]

14. k

[William Z. Foster]

15. kick

Thank you.