Cut Testing Budget and Hire School Nurses

Hiring school nurses, improving the health and well being of children in the poorest neighborhoods who need eyeglasses, dental care, and regular checkups, not to mention expensive medicine for asthma, would lead to higher test scores.

Will this incident in Philadelphia change policy?

It depends on how far Pearson and McGraw Hill and gang can keep their Golden Goose laying all those golden eggs as Common Core Standards are rolled in conjunction with the new market based, for profit education revolution.

In the real world, school nurses would be a better investment. But then again, only private school nurses are allowed to administer medical care. As the district manager in Philadelphia said, "nurses have to call 911, they can't administer care."

That's what I call separate and unequal. Oh, the good old days, when there was actually still a Constitution.

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After Philadelphia Asthma Death, Focus On School Staffing | CBS Philly

A 2012 state Health Department found that 17 percent of Philadelphia students experience asthma during their school years.

At nurse Peg Devine’s last school in downtown Philadelphia, the figure was 27 percent. She used to run a club called “Asthma-Busters” to teach more than 100 students how to manage their asthma. She transferred out two years ago when the nursing position was cut to part-time.

“When you don’t have the time to educate, it’s just heartbreaking. The kids will come in with an inhaler from their doctor’s office, and they don’t even know how to use it properly,” Devine said.And though the nurses train staff to be alert for medical emergencies, Devine said there are too few adults left in the schools to keep watch.