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Trump and China call off the divorce; Court ruling allows transgender troop removal to proceed; NC University provides guaranteed opportunity to students in struggling region; Program elimination, job loss as DOGE cuts funds for NM's AmeriCorps.

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Advocates say Republicans' scaled back Medicaid cuts still put too much in jeopardy. President Trump defends getting a luxury jet from Qatar, and frustration grows among museum executives who say White House is trying to erase history.

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Volunteers with AmeriCorps are reeling from near elimination of the 30-year-old program, Head Start has dodged demise but funding cuts are likely, moms are the most vulnerable when extreme weather hits, and in California, bullfrogs await their 15-minutes of fame.

Experts say lead in Milwaukee schools is an environmental justice issue

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Thursday, April 24, 2025   

As the city of Milwaukee continues to grapple with addressing unsafe levels of lead across public schools, experts are calling it an environmental justice issue and are urging reform of the systemic causes driving the problem.

At least three Milwaukee schools have closed and about a handful of students were exposed to unsafe levels of lead. As city officials continue to investigate, they are forced to do so without federal support usually available in crises like these.

Tony Wilkin Gibart, executive director of Midwest Environmental Advocates, said Milwaukee was already facing a lead poisoning crisis from other sources and finding hazardous levels in schools can easily overwhelm city departments working with limited resources.

"Milwaukee has the highest rates of childhood lead poisoning of any community in the state," Wilkin Gibart pointed out. "That problem is primarily driven by the fact that inner city Milwaukee has been historically subject to redlining, housing discrimination, and disinvestment."

Wilkin Gibart noted inner city kids may be going from homes with lead hazards to schools with lead hazards. Poor families and children are disproportionately affected.

Lead paint was banned by the federal government in 1978 but the majority of buildings in Milwaukee were built before the ban. Wisconsin prohibits municipalities like Milwaukee from requiring rental inspections before occupancy, leading to poorly maintained units and potentially overlooked lead presence.

Marty Kanarek, professor of epidemiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said research now shows no amount of lead is safe for children.

"It slows their growth and development, it affects their learning and behavior," Kanarek outlined. "It even can affect their hearing and speech, lowers their IQ, decreases their ability to sit still, to pay attention, and unfortunately, these effects can be lifelong."

Exposure potentially leads to juvenile delinquency and criminal behavior later in life, he adds. Kanarek noted families can take preventive measures like testing homes for lead, cleaning or covering windowsills, which often contain high levels of lead paint, and having your doctor regularly test children's blood levels.

He cautioned addressing the issue at large will require political and financial investment.

"It's a question of money and political will to spend the money to take the paint out of those houses and to take the paint out of all the schools," Kanarek explained. "That's the issue: Political will to get the money to do the job, to do preventive medicine, primary prevention, to get the lead out."


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