Heat, Insufficient Cooling Disrupt Learning Nationwide
Extreme heat across the country is disrupting education as high temperatures force schools without sufficient ventilation or air conditioning to cancel classes or send students home early. School systems including those in Philadelphia, Cleveland, Baltimore, and San Diego were all forced to cancel or shorten school this week. “It was over 100 degrees by 10 a.m.,” Sharee Himmons, a special-education assistant at Fitler Elementary in Philadelphia, told the Inquirer. “It’s unhealthy to be sitting in there like that — we were all sweaty, lightheaded, tired, cranky.” People of color are disproportionately harmed by extreme heat due to racist policy decisions, from redlining to present-day de facto segregation. In particular, rising temperatures and underinvestment in communities of color disproportionately harm Black and Hispanic students' educational outcomes. (Nationwide: The Hill; Philadelphia: Philadelphia Inquirer; Ohio: Energy News Network, WKYC; Baltimore: CNN; San Diego: KGTV)
(Climate Signals background: Extreme heat and heatwaves)
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