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“It’s going to take a while to find an approach that makes sense.” “This has been decades in the making,” said Patrick Hayes, legal director for the city of Rockford. Indeed, cities on record opposing the bill say it was inevitable that widespread lead testing in older buildings would be necessary, especially in light of the Flint example.
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“I believe there probably is a problem” statewide.
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“When you test in CPS, you realize, yes, there really is lead in the water,” she said. When Chicago Public Schools began testing for lead earlier this year - resulting in more than 100 schools testing positive for high levels - the need to focus statewide became even more evident, Steans added. Heather Steans (D-Chicago), who sponsored the legislation, said the national attention focused on Flint, Michigan’s lead-contaminated drinking water highlighted the need to test water in elementary schools. The requirement would also affect municipal water suppliers who would be responsible for the testing. It’s unclear how many of those were built before 1987. There are approximately 2,600 public schools and 1,200 private schools across the state serving preschool through fifth grade, according to data from the Illinois State Board of Education. (Lead pipes were banned from buildings following a federal law passed the year prior.) The bill, which is similar to those being pushed in other states, would mandate that both public and private primary education school buildings built before 1987 be tested.
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Rather, the superintendents just want clarification on how to pay for both the testing and any costs related to addressing problems, he said. The school administrators, an association of superintendents, doesn’t oppose the bill, Chamness said. “On principle, we are against unfunded state mandates.” “We think it’s something that should be done,” said Michael Chamness, a spokesman for the Illinois Association of School Administrators. The bill doesn’t propose any state funding for the testing, which has schools and municipalities pushing back. > Read this story at the State Journal-Register | The Daily HeraldĪt the same time, schools and towns around the state are questioning who should pay for testing given the current financial conditions of state government, public schools and the municipalities that may be called on to help fund such an effort.Ī bill that would require schools to test for lead passed the Illinois Senate, 48-5, in May and will potentially be considered in the House during the Veto Session that begins in November. “In this case, we need to be absolutely sure we’re not providing a continuous source of lead in their environment - we’re not poisoning our children.” “There’s no safe level of lead that we can give to children,” said Jennifer Walling, executive director of the umbrella organization Illinois Environmental Council and a backer of the bill. Lead, which is particularly dangerous for young children, can cause behavioral problems, learning disabilities and other health issues. A group of environmental organizations is pushing for a law that requires elementary schools in Illinois to test for high levels of lead in drinking fountains, sinks and other water sources because they say school districts aren’t likely to test without prodding.