The Centre for Disease control estimates that Children in at least 4 million homes are exposed to elevated levels of lead. Exposure to lead is harmful to a child's brain development, coupled with impending education reform in the United States, an entire generation of low-income children can be stunted in their physical and mental development. Not being able to receive the tools need to cope with the disabilities that childhood lead exposure can give them, they are potentially a cohort written off, before they have the chance to grow up.

This cannot be allowed, this petition is calling for legislative action and infrastructure investment to remediate the problems harming these children and a call to reconsider educational decisions that offer children the care and attention they need regardless of where they attend school.

In 1991, EPA published a regulation to control lead and copper in drinking water. This regulation is known as the Lead and Copper Rule (also referred to as the LCR). Since 1991 the LCR has undergone various revisions, see the Rule History section below.

The treatment technique for the rule requires systems to monitor drinking water at customer taps. If lead concentrations exceed an action level of 15 ppb or copper concentrations exceed an action level of 1.3 ppm in more than 10% of customer taps sampled, the system must undertake a number of additional actions to control corrosion.

If the action level for lead is exceeded, the system must also inform the public about steps they should take to protect their health and may have to replace lead service lines under their control.

Since this legislative framework hasn't been adhered to in numerous locations through out america, this petition aims to achieve the following:

• Test all water systems for lead pollution
• Start funding the replacement of contaminated water systems
• Hold Private schools to the acceptance standards of public schools and legislate inclusive policies that make sure children with disabilities and behaviour issues are not adversely discriminated against while attending them.

Betsy DeVos (now Secretary of Education) has pushed the voucher dominated system in Michigan and the charter and private schools that they have supported are among the lowest scoring schools in the city of Detroit. (The worst lead contamination in Detroit is at 32.13% in zip code 48214)

This type of policy played out on a national level could potentially devastate an entire cohort of the most vulnerable citizens of the American population, children from poor households. Lead poising increases behavioural issues and impairs healthy brain development; often leading to chronic conditions that can notably affect the individuals’ quality of living, longing after prolonged elevated exposure. These health impacts, when combined with the projected educational policy shift, which favours private schools over public schools is the linchpin issue that could cripple America for two main reasons:

• It diverts funding for public schools, meaning they will have fewer resources to help impaired children. Instead of getting funding directly, state mandated education funding is sent to parents as vouchers and schools get money for their student populations. Students who’ve used their funding at private schools first, then are kicked out must be accepted at the public schools after.
• Private schools do not have requirements to admit and accommodate children with special needs and behavioural issues. Meaning affected children that are sent to these schools, may be kicked out and sent to public schools. Schools that don’t have the resources to focus on their development as intently as needed, and after their vouchers may have been used. Limiting the schools’ resources to handle the need of the child.

These two things make the most vulnerable children, susceptible to mistreatment in their education and threaten their long-term development. Education is supposed to be the great social equaliser, it allows low-income children access to the means that can propel them upwards in society. When children already come from already disadvantaged circumstances, being unable to access proper education can potentially stall the social security of the American workforce. America is growing a cohort, that is already victimised systemically and will no doubt, suffer over the course of their lives because they could not get clean drinking water. This should be a source of continued public outcry for testing, funding and interim water supplies. These children cannot afford to be ignored, and they cannot afford the consequences that old infrastructure is costing them. Leaving this issue unattended will equate a to spike in crime and unemployment when these children become of age. The side-effects of lead exposure can be aggression, attention disorders and more challenging mental illnesses. Not being addressed in school, these children may not be able to function in society, due to the already disadvantaged upbringing and as a result may be more susceptible to organised and petty crimes, drug abuse, and suicide. This is a problem 15 years in the making, that we have the obligation to address now. The lack of social safety nets in America only reinforces the fates of these children, and that cannot be allowed to happen silently.

If Donald trump really wants to make America great again, he will massively invest in this issue and before he builds walls, he’ll build pipes.

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-lead-testing/​

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/12/08/a-sobering-look-at-what-betsy-devos-did-to-education-in-michigan-and-what-she-might-do-as-secretary-of-education/?utm_term=.6e7143ee6fbb​

https://medium.com/@jamesrhule/why-donald-trump-may-be-the-least-of-americas-problems-b0628a5ae405#.mbs1tdwrd