October 26, 2024
Dear Friends,
One of my top priorities in Congress is supporting children and families and ensuring that all Americans — regardless of income or zip code — have the tools they need to succeed and build better lives.
As you know, schools are a key determinant in any child’s future success. That’s why earlier this year, I introduced legislation that shines a needed spotlight on an often-overlooked issue impacting students’ health and academic achievement in the classroom: indoor air quality.
Before they turn 18, America’s children will have spent about 15,000 hours inside school buildings. Studies show that indoor air is often two to five times, and occasionally as high as 100 times, more polluted than outdoor air. An extensive body of research has shown that improving indoor air quality increases academic performance, raises test scores, reduces sick days, and slows the transmission of respiratory infections. If classrooms, childcare facilities, libraries, and community centers were filled with cleaner air, we’d be well on our way to a generation of healthier, more productive students. Despite this basic fact, however, indoor air quality often goes unaddressed and unfunded.
We can solve this challenge by committing to healthy building improvements across our communities. That’s where my bill, the bipartisan Indoor Air Quality and Healthy Schools Act, comes into play. My legislation requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish and update a list of significant indoor contaminants, as well as to propose guidelines to reduce the risk of exposure to these contaminants. It also establishes a recurring national assessment of our school buildings and provides for the development of tools and technical assistance for staff and parents.
This week, I met with stakeholders, parents, and faculty at Giffen Memorial Elementary School in Albany to discuss the benefits and challenges of addressing indoor air quality.
Thanks to $1 million in EPA funding, researchers from the University at Albany are already implementing air monitoring projects at Giffen. But our work is still far from finished. We owe it to our children — and their teachers, administrators, and staff — to create safe and healthy learning environments. In doing so, we enhance our students’ ability to learn, grow and thrive.
Addressing indoor air quality and public health is one important step, but our efforts to support our kids must go even further. One of the most crucial and important ways we can support our children and families is to ensure access to quality, affordable childcare.
In Congress, Democrats have pushed to ease the burdens on hardworking families by boosting access to quality childcare, supporting childcare workers, and strengthening the Child Tax Credit. Our historic American Rescue Plan was a pillar in this effort, bringing direct support to families and workers, helping to reopen schools shuttered by the pandemic, and significantly expanding the aforementioned Child Tax Credit. Thanks to this law, three million children across the country were lifted out of poverty, including 5,200 children living right here in the Capital Region. Ever since the expiration of this vital benefit, I’ve been pushing to make this expansion permanent and make certain that millions of families have the resources they need to support their kids and give them the best possible start in life.
Fortunately, we have numerous programs, organizations, and individuals in our Capital Region who are hard at work delivering that vital support to our families. Northern Rivers Early Learning Center in Schenectady is one such program, providing critical preschool and daycare services for the families who need them most.
Yesterday, I met with meet with parents and staff at Northern Rivers to discuss the critical importance of maintaining robust federal funding for Head Start programs in our Capital Region and beyond. Early Head Start is a federally funded program for low-income families who are pregnant or have children up to age three. Through Early Head Start, parents learn ways to help their children meet important milestones and ensure that they are healthy, developmentally on target, and ready for the world.
Last year, the Northern Rivers Early Learning Center served 135 children from 116 families in the Schenectady area. 94 of those children were enrolled through the federally funded Early Head Start program, including 72 children in the center-based program and 22 in Northern Rivers’ home-based program.
I’m so grateful to the dedicated and compassionate staff at Northern Rivers for taking the time to speak to me about the services they provide to our community, and for giving me more information about how I can best support their critical work at the federal level. Maintaining and strengthening programs like this one help ensure that every child can reach their full potential. Going forward, I pledge to do all I can to provide the resources Americans need and deserve to build better lives for their families.
As always, thank you for reading.
Your friend,
DID YOU KNOW?
My office and I are working to make sure you remain informed with the latest updates and recommendations from federal agencies. With that in mind, here is some information that may be of interest to you:
