TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE--FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2009   * Shortage of School Nurses Impedes Efforts to Address H1N1 Flu * Inadequate Staffing at Issue in Higher Education as Well   Nursing Shortage Hinders Flu Response: "As schools grapple with a resurgence of swine flu, many districts have few or no nurses to prevent or respond to outbreaks, leaving students more vulnerable to a virus that spreads easily in classrooms and takes a heavier toll on children and young adults." So notes a timely Associated Press news story on the heightened hazard facing students in our public schools thanks to inadequate nurse staffing.   Texas AFT for several legislative sessions has fought for enactment of legislation that would pave the way to required nurse-staffing ratios, meanwhile at least requiring in the short run that districts notify parents when their child's school lacks full-time nursing coverage. This year the notification bill passed the Texas Senate with flying colors, only to fall prey to resistance from school boards, school administrators, and their allies in the Texas House Public Education Committee.   As the AP story further notes, "The shortage of school nurses could lead to more students falling ill from the H1N1 virus, which can be particularly dangerous for children with weakened immune systems or respiratory conditions such as asthma, experts say." The story goes on to recall that "it was a school nurse in New York City...who helped identify and curtail the country's first major outbreak after she noticed large numbers of students complaining of high fevers and sore throats." Unfortunately, "only 45 percent of public schools have their own full-time school nurse, another 30 percent have a part-time nurse, and a quarter don't have any nurses at all," according to a 2008 survey by the National Association of School Nurses. Nationwide, the study found, the average student-to-nurse ratio was 1,151 to one   The Texas AFT School Nurse Task Force, chaired by Starla Reichek of our Houston Federation of Teachers affiliate, will continue to push for state legislation that recognizes full-time school nurse staffing is a necessity. Though some districts seem to regard appropriate nurse staffing as a luxury they cannot afford, the reality is exactly the opposite. It's the lack of full-time nurse staffing in every school that their students cannot afford--and the current difficulties in dealing with the H1N1 flu outbreak are a pointed reminder of that fact.   Inadequate Academic Staffing in Higher Education: The American Federation of Teachers is working to get Congress to improve higher-education staffing as part of a bill that would add billions of dollars to federal college aid.  The bill is H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. It increases financial aid for college students and increases federal support for community colleges by cutting wasteful subsidies to banks under the federal guaranteed student-loan program. AFT wants Congress to add to H.R. 3221 a provision that would permit some of those savings to be used as well to create additional full-time faculty positions or provide more stability and equitable compensation for adjunct ("contingent") college faculty. It's a worthy cause, and you can help by sending a letter via the AFT Legislative Action Center to your two U.S. senators. Here's the link:  http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/HE092509.    A crucial passage from the letter explains why this higher-ed staffing issue needs urgent attention:   Over the last generation, we have witnessed a frightening disinvestment in academic staffing. As a result of that disinvestment, barely more than one-quarter of the instructors in U.S. colleges and universities today are full-time, permanent faculty members. The vast majority of college instructors teach on a contingent basis, either as part-time faculty members, full-time contract faculty members or graduate teaching assistants. Contingent faculty members teach more than half the nation's undergraduate courses and most are paid unjustifiably low wages for the work they do. Contingent instructors perform professionally and successfully, but continuing the erosion of full-time faculty and the exploitation of part-time faculty is not good for America's students.