March 20, 2008

Legislators Let Corona Down

Ted Maish, Opinions, Your View
The Arizona Republic

There are many things we can find not to agree on.  Our children’s health and education should never be two of those.  When a situation comes up that is possibly putting our children in harms way there should be no question that this is a priority.

The Corona Del Sol air quality problem is an example. The aging ventilation system there has been linked to reports of many health issues.  Parents are rightly outraged that little has been done to fix the system, which fails to circulate enough fresh air into the classrooms.  Our current legislators from District 20 all voted recently against the necessary funding to fix the faulty ventilation system, Sen. John Huppenthal and Representatives Bob Robson and John McComish.

That position stands in strong contrast to what this community needs. At a February 27th public forum at Corona Del Sol, many concerned parents, students and faculty shared thoughts and ideas about the crisis. I was there, not just as a retired veteran high school teacher who hopes to represent these families, but also because my daughter graduated from Corona Del Sol in 2001. Many people shared their outrage at the lack of progress. Good suggestions were made, and it appears that the district will follow up on many of them.  Extensive testing has already taken place and a plan has been established to solve the problem.  To date the state has turned down requests to fund the necessary repairs.

Regrettably, none of the three state legislators from district 20 were present at the forum to hear their constituents concerns or answer questions about the threat to our students and staff.   A senator from another district, Meg Burton Cahill (LD-17), described her frustration at getting anything done for our public schools with the makeup of the current State Senate and House of Representatives.