Our leaders at ONE Northside recently met with the Chicago Teachers Union for the first ever public bargaining session with CPS, as they discussed the issue of “Green Schools.” Our representatives pushed to give students better access to green spaces, technical education programs to prepare students for jobs in the renewable energy sector, and fixing aging, polluting infrastructure in school buildings.
Our schools are beginning to crumble.
After years of underinvestment in Chicago’s Black and Brown communities, a large portion of CPS buildings are run-down and unsafe, featuring aging, polluting infrastructure that exposes children to lead, asbestos, and poor ventilation.
The average age of CPS school buildings is 84 years, nearly double the national average. Classrooms face a severe lack of ventilation, leading to spaces that are too hot or cold. Furthermore, there is a lack of safe drinking water, as many pipes have degraded over the years and have begun leaching lead into the school’s water system. Students also complain that they dislike the lunches offered and many refuse to eat lunch at school. This is further exacerbated by the fact that many schools only have “warming kitchens,” which are unable to meet the dietary, cultural, and religious needs of students. Simply put, students are uncomfortable, frustrated, and hungry. As a result, they cannot focus on learning!
Many students are also disengaged by the outdated curriculum and do not a see real life connection to the environmental injustices they face, as they do not have access to the skills or training needed to enter the new green economy.
Our school communities need an equitable plan for renovating, repairing, or replacing outdated, unsafe buildings, many of which are not ADA compliant.
What are “Green Schools”?
We are demanding a complete transformation of the current landscape of our public schools, which includes:
- Toxins out of our schools
- Lead pipe removal/water filtration in every school
- Comfortable and joyful learning spaces
- Low energy/net zero temperature control & ventilation
- More green spaces at schools, priority for communities with the highest rates of pollution
- Replace outdated and malfunctioning HVAC systems, moratorium on gas HVAC
- Install electric heat pumps at 50 schools
- Launch a Carbon Neutral Schools pilot program & utilize federal funding for decarbonizing schools
- Retrofit schools to cut energy costs by 30% by the end of the 2024-25 school year
- Create community hubs for heating and cooling during extreme weather
- Establish a Clean Energy Jobs and Green Technology CTE Program (e.g. electric vehicle battery manufacturing, solar installation, carbon zero HVAC) in every neighborhood high school.
So how will we get there? Crucially, we need to push for a big investment in funding, such as through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, which would provide $500 million over 5 years for grants to schools and nonprofits to improve energy efficiency, as well as $200 million over 5 years for clean drinking water, which includes the removal of lead contamination in schools. We also seek to establish a joint standing committee on climate justice to implement district-wide climate justice initiatives, including curriculum and teaching materials.
Our leaders were instrumental in promoting community voices and showing CPS that we care about this issue! Chosen as one of the few community advocacy groups to speak at the historic event, we will continue to show up and show out for “Green Schools,” and we will continue to strengthen and expand our existing community organization partnerships with the CTU. We need even more voices to prove that “Green Schools” should be at the top of the priority list for CPS, and we know this will benefit all our kids.
Support us in our fight to create the healthy, safe, green schools our students deserve! If you want to learn more and get involved in our campaign for Green Schools, fill out the Get Involved form here to let us know you’re interested in Environmental Justice issues!
By: Eric Lin