Why Are Schools Losing School Nurses?

If you live in a state represented by the national average, USA Today reportsthat your public schools have half the number of nurses recommended by thefederal government and the CDC. Of course, poor schools in whatever state don't even come close to half the needed number.

So even though NCLB's testing frenzy makes the need for school nurses evenmore critical to handle the increased stress, anxiety, nosebleeds, and vomiting that come with test days, it is NCLB that is contributing to fewer and fewer nurses:

. . . many school administrators say they cannot afford to keep a nurse on staff, especially given the demands of the government's No Child Left Behind program, which links federal funding of schools to improved standardized test scores. "I don't like going without a school nurse," says Scott Johnson, district administrator for the Siren (Wis.) School District. "But I don't like cutting a teacher, either."

And sweetness-and-light Susan Aspey at ED curtly reminds us that, even though schools fall far short of federal recommendations, Ed has no plans to enforce the recommendations:

"State and local officials determine staffing needs," says Susan Aspey, press secretary for the department. "We don't dictate hiring decisions."

Of course, we know what ED is dictating. Pathetic.