Student Well-Being

ESEA Amendment Would Regulate School Pesticide Use

By Darcia Harris Bowman — July 11, 2001 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

School districts across the country would be required to notify parents before using bug-killing chemicals on school property, under legislation now moving through Congress.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization approved by the Senate on June 14 includes language that would require all 50 states to regulate pesticide use in schools and order districts to alert parents before spraying for roaches and other insects.

Some 35 states already have rules in place limiting students’ exposure to such chemicals, but the language in the ESEA bill would serve as the first federal regulation of pesticide use in schools, according to the amendment’s sponsor, Sen. Robert G. Torricelli, D-N.J. The senator described the passage of his measure last month as “an enormous and hard-fought victory for the health of our children.”

The amended ESEA would require states to notify parents three times each academic year about what pesticides were being used in and around schools and when. Districts would also have to set up a registry for parents and staff members who wanted to be notified of pesticide spraying 24 hours beforehand.

“Parents will now be armed with the knowledge they need to protect their children from potentially harmful pesticides when they send them to school,” Mr. Torricelli said in a statement.

The Torricelli amendment won support from groups normally at odds over the use of pesticides: Both the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides/Beyond Pesticides and the National Pest Management Association, the only national trade organization for pest-management companies, agreed to the final language in the bill.

House and Senate negotiators are expected to sit down this summer to work out differences between their versions of the ESEA reauthorization. The main federal law on precollegiate education, the ESEA encompasses a sweeping array of school programs. The House version of the bill, which passed May 23, does not include the pesticide provision.

Critics Raise Concerns

Similar legislation died in a House committee two years ago. Sen. Torricelli’s proposal also faces opposition, primarily from members of the House Agriculture Committee.

In a June letter to Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., Rep. Larry Combest, the Texas Republican who chairs the agriculture panel, asked that his committee be represented in negotiations on the provision. The congressman said the legislation would not provide funding to state and local education agencies to help them comply with its provisions and would also amend a law under the agriculture committee’s jurisdiction.

But an aide to Sen. Torricelli predicted last month that the pesticide industry’s backing would smooth the amendment’s passage into law.

“This has the full support of the pesticide industry, so we’re hoping we can rely on them to speak with members and get everyone behind it,” said Debra DeShong, Mr. Torricelli’s press secretary.

Gene Harrington, the manager of government affairs for the National Pest Management Association, said last week that members of his organization will meet with House Agriculture Committee staff to learn more about their objections.

“We’ll certainly convey our support to House agriculture staffers and try to mollify any concerns they have,” Mr. Harrington said.

The bill does not, however, enjoy the backing of at least one prominent education group. The National School Boards Association opposes the amendment and will work to get it cut from the ESEA bill in the upcoming House-Senate conference committee.

“The bottom line is that we just feel like it’s an overly burdensome and costly set of regulations for school districts,” said Lori Meyer, the director of federal legislation for the NSBA, based in Alexandria, Va. “But we don’t want to totally close the door on any negotiations with the senator’s office.”

The bill would require all states to develop pest-management plans—with an eye toward encouraging alternatives to traditional chemical sprays and bug bombs wherever possible—and to submit them to the federal Environmental Protection Agency for approval. Each district would also have to assign a qualified person to oversee the pesticide plans.

Kagan Owen, the program director for Beyond Pesticides, defended the measure, arguing that although some states and districts have aggressive programs in place to limit the use of pesticides, federal regulation is needed to fill in the gaps.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the July 11, 2001 edition of Education Week as ESEA Amendment Would Regulate School Pesticide Use

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Personalized Learning Webinar
Expanding Teacher Impact: Scaling Personalized Learning Across Districts
Explore personalized learning strategies that transform classrooms and empower educators.
Content provided by DreamBox Learning
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
How to Leverage Virtual Learning: Preparing Students for the Future
Hear from an expert panel how best to leverage virtual learning in your district to achieve your goals.
Content provided by Class
English-Language Learners Webinar AI and English Learners: What Teachers Need to Know
Explore the role of AI in multilingual education and its potential limitations.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Student Well-Being States Look to Social-Emotional Learning to Combat Student Misbehavior, Poor Mental Health
Experts say SEL can be a first line of defense against youth mental health problems and misbehavior, but political resistance continues.
6 min read
Image of happy and unhappy face symbols.
ThitareeSarmkasat/iStock/Getty
Student Well-Being LGBTQ+ Students Feel the Weight of a Push for Parents' Rights
States and local school boards are passing laws that specifically target LGBTQ+ youth. It's affecting those students' mental health.
7 min read
Illustration of a person hiding their face while jagged shapes and aggressive forms close in around them.
Iryna Vladymyrova/iStock
Student Well-Being Child Poverty in the U.S. Jumped in 2022 as Pandemic Benefits Ended
Child poverty in the United States more than doubled last year, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
4 min read
FILE - Jaqueline Benitez, who depends on California's SNAP benefits to help pay for food, shops for groceries at a supermarket in Bellflower, Calif., on Feb. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Allison Dinner, file)
Student Well-Being Opinion How to Help Students Try New Things
We all fear failure, the unknown, the suboptimal. Here’s how students can get past indecision.
1 min read
Images shows a stylized artistic landscape with soothing colors.
Getty