Corporate greed, lack of precaution, and a disregard for the value of the people that make up these communities has been putting the children attending Marsh Fork Elementary in unnecessary danger. But last Friday with the announcement of the securement of all the money needed to build a new school, we can celebrate a victory for not only these impacted families, but for all the communities that lack the policies necessary to prevent schools from being built near sources of pollution.

Unsafe school siting is a nationwide problem and there is currently a critical gap in legislation. Despite the health hazards that on-site and off-site environmental contaminants pose to children, 20 states have no laws that restrict the siting of schools near manmade or natural environmental hazards. Only 10 states have laws that prohibit this practice outright.

We must make decisions that impact our children’s health through a lens of precaution as the potential fate of the children at Marsh Fork have told us for years. Children are a vulnerable population. Their bodies are more sensitive than our own and are still developing. Children’s immature systems are less able to handle toxic chemical exposures. For example, children absorb about 50% of the lead to which they are exposed, while adults absorb only 10–15%.

The Center for Health, Environment, and Justice states, “The US mandates its schools to educate our children to become vital contributors to society. Not only is education the foundation of a stable, just society, but critical to national economic competitiveness. Current research shows a 10-point drop in blood lead level means an average 2.8 point IQ gain. Blood lead level plunged 15 points after lead was removed from gasoline in the US[1]. This gives every baby born today a ‘gift’ of four to five IQ points. Conservative calculations suggest each IQ point is worth about $8,300 in additional lifetime income. With about 4 million babies born annually, the elimination of lead has had an economic value of over $100 billion per year for the lifetime of those children.”

EPA is nearly one full year behind schedule in releasing federal guidelines that would help to prevent the siting of schools in places like Marsh Fork Elementary currently sits. With declining budgets and an uncertain economy, school districts across the country are faced with the uncertain battle of where to safely site schools and many are left without any guidance. We need EPA to release comprehensive federal guidelines dedicated to community participation and transparency and then we must keep up the pressure in our own communities to adopt these safe school siting policies.

Please call EPA’s Administrator Lisa Jackson at 202-564-4700 Tell her that though the children at Marsh Fork Elementary will soon be protected from irresponsible school siting, EPA must release comprehensive federal guidelines sooner rather than later so that all our children can be protected.

For a toxic free future,

Renee Claire

Ps. Help spread the message that passing safe school siting policies are important to the future of our children and the health of our community by sharing this blog post with your friends and family.

I’m a financial planner and many of my clients are single or divorced moms who buy individual insurance policies. They do so because they often do not qualify for an employer’s group policy. They generally cannot afford to work the number of hours required to be eligible for such plans because they need to be available when a child gets sick or needs care after school. These single mothers are already struggling to make ends meet; their income has stagnated over the last several years while prices continue to rise. So I recognize that every dollar a mother spends on healthcare is one that she can no longer allocate to her child’s welfare.

On average, women already pay a far higher price than men for their decision to have children. According to www.momsrising.org, non-mothers earn 10 percent less than their male counterparts; mothers earn 27 percent less; and single mothers earn between 34 percent and 44 percent less. (Momsrising.org is an organization that brings motherhood and family issues to the forefront of the country’s awareness.) The idea that these same women are paying more than men for identical healthcare coverage is doubly regressive and reeks of inequity. Federal antidiscrimination laws protect those covered by an employer’s group policy from such a pricing disparity. Those covered by individual plans need the same protection. That’s change we need urgently.

So, it was refreshing to know that the facts and real people’s stories got airtime. Many of us have experienced discrimination in hiring because we’re mothers, or family caregivers, or just have some regular responsibilities that mean we simply cannot be chained to our workplaces at any hour of the day or night. And many of you shared your stories right here. But I don’t often see this covered in the media outside of a superficial, “mommy wars” kind of way.

On the ABC website, they posted an accompanying story highlighting stories of moms in Pennsylvania who had to face personal questions about their marital and parental status. So many of the comments following the stories are from moms who have been there. One pointed out that kids today are tomorrow’s leaders, and even people without kids are going to be relying on them for services in the years to come. I really appreciated that– it took the cliche that “children are our future” and made it concrete. Who will be our doctors, teachers, laborers, office workers in five, ten, twenty years? Yep, the current crop of 13 year olds and younger are going to hit adulthood sooner than we think. The time to parent them is NOW.

And let’s be clear: no parent is asking for the moon here from their employers. No one is expecting special treatment. Heck, almost every other country in the world manages to provide family-friendly benefits like paid family leave, and the world economy isn’t on the brink of collapse (well, not due to that!). So it’s not impossible. We just need a shift in corporate culture and in the laws of the land (that’s all!). A shift that recognizes that society does not rest solely on the fourth quarter earnings of a corporation. And let’s recognize that employees don’t come from nowhere– we were all born to someone, raised by someone. Maybe come home to someone who shares our life. Those someones are our family.

Bottom line: We cannot expect society to keep rolling along as usual if we don’t acknowledge the reality of the time and effort of child-rearing. Raising kids is work. It’s labor that takes time like any other job — even if you have a paid outside job, even if you have paid childcare. Whether you’re working and have kids in childcare or are a full-time parent, you know that the work of parenting is as much labor as any job. And it’s worth just as much, at least. It’s time our society came to grips with that fact. So the more mainstream media tells it like it is, the better chances we have of developing a work culture in this country compatible with — instead of working against — family life.

Despite public outcry from women all over Pennsylvania and the United States of America who signed petitions at MomsRising.org, and from other individuals who called and wrote to these chairmen directly, their pleas for these male lawmakers to bring these bills to their committees for a vote fell on deaf ears.

HB352 and SB440 from the 04-06 legislative session were predeceased by HB65 and SB131 (02-04 legislative session) and HB1718 and SB1261 (00-02 legislative session). These bills added only TWO words to the 51-year-old Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. When enacted, these bills would prohibit employers from asking job candidates about their marital/familial status during job interviews (as is currently the law in 28 states). Ironically, these questions are rarely if ever asked to men during interviews. Women are even paid less for their work because of having to divulge their childbearing status during job interviews.

Are the rumors that this is a misogynistic state really true?

As I don my traditional funeral attire and mourn for the loss of yet another chance that women receive fair and equal treatment in the workforce through updated legislation, I ponder, why the continuous repression of women and their children?

HB352 and SB440 are survived by women everywhere who believe in equality and justice and are trying to provide the best they can for their families. May our legacy continue and our efforts quadruple next session to get the next set of bills passed.

A great description from Kiki:

Lisa, the host of the show, was great, supportive and a single mom with three children. She spoke of her own experiences in the past being asked, during a job interview, if she planned to have more children.

She asked me great questions, such as did I have high expectations about the outcome of the legislation and I told her I always did. Except for those times in the past that I put on my black mourning dress in November at
the end of the legislative session. But this time I feel more optimistic. I also told her about all the petitions that women from around the country have been signing on momsrising.org and that I brought over 5,200 of them to
Harrisburg to show the lawmakers that the country is watching and women are starting to band together to look out for and support one another.

She asked me what job positions I applied for and I explained they were for bookkeeper and administrative assistant positions but the problem is not limited to those job positions and I spoke of former State Treasurer Barbara Hafer’s testimony at the hearing where she talks about experiences in the workplace and in politics with invasive questions – so it is a problem across the board of job titles.

She asked me about my interview experiences and she wanted to play devil’s advocate and ask why an employer would want to hire her, a single mom with three children who may face a crisis in the morning and can’t come to work. I said we needed family friendly policies to deal with human issues. It doesn’t have to be a single mother who has a crisis about their children. What about employees who care for their aging parents? Should they not get a job either because of that responsibility? What about the female who just invested in a $100,000 college education only to be denied employment because of her potential to give birth in the future?

I stressed that this legislation will not tell employers who they can and cannot hire. It will only prohibit them from asking two questions just like in states like NY, NJ, CA and Washington DC. It is time PA raised the bar on professionalism and come up to par with the other states.

Joan talked about the companies mentioned in the book that have such tremendous success with family friendly policies. She also mentioned sister organizations who are banding together to help with motherhood issues such as 9 to 5, PA NOW, Mothers and More and a host of others.

Lisa asked me what listeners could do to help. I told her they needed to call Sen. Gordner and Rep. O’Brien and tell them to move the legislation now. Joan referred them to the momsrising.org web site for contact
information and Lisa ended the show with, “I think I’m going to call them right now myself!” It was a very good experience. It should be on the site, www.lisabradio.com later today or tomorrow.

To me, Kiki is the ideal representation of fearlesness, and right now, HuffPo is running a post that I wrote about Kiki and the remarkable campaign she has initiated in Pennsylvania, called, Fearless Kiki, so stop by!

Over at MotherTalkers.com, Elisa has a fantastic conversation going on about single moms in the workplace. I really like this comment from “Shenanigans”:

If you’ve got someone in your office who has to leave early to pick up the kids regularly, figure out a solution. If they’re worth keeping, put them on part time or figure out how they can do some work from home or have them put in time in some other way.

Yes! It is all about finding a solution. NOT about making blanket assumptions and decisions because of a person’s life and obligations: you know, the whole concept of work AND family instead of work OR family. Isn’t that the definition of family friendly in its most pure sense — figuring out how work and family can co-exist in a healthy, peaceful and productive way?

Asha at Parent Hacks also posted on the issue and one of her readers shared this story:

This is such an important issue. Unfortunately, the best way to enforce this is through EEOC cases. I filed one against the company where I used to work (because of)pregnancy and new mother discrimination (they let men and non mothers telecommute, but pulled the preggos and new moms back in to show they were “toughening up” on that whole baby thing.) I was fired for even complaining about it.

The EEOC said I had a great case. A year ago. I wonder when the investigation is going to happen? I stoped calling. Not holding my breath here. Good thing I got another job.

Over at Miriam Peskowitz’s Playground Revolution Crank Mama said she sent an email on to our dear friend in Gornder’s office who blew Kiki off the other day, Todd Roup. Miriam even provides suggested language for an email. My advice to Gordner, Roup et.al. — never underestimate a mother.

Here they are again:

Senator Hilary Clinton

Senator Barak Obama

Senator Chris Dodd

Senator Ted Kennedy

Let’s start with Kiki in Harrisburg:

Kiki delivered a 123 page, 5,200 name petition to key lawmakers in Harrisburg, much to the amazement, and befuddlement, of some legislative staffers. “That is not true!” exclaimed one staffer when Kiki told her that in Pennsylvania it was legal to ask about marriage and family in a job interview. The especially disturbing part about that exchange is the staffer works for Sen. John Gordner – who appears hell-bent to stall the legislation in his committee until it dies – as Mr. Gordner obviously isn’t sharing the legislation with people in his office. Kiki did learn from members of Gordner’s staff that within the past week or two, calls and emails have flooded their office from all over the country regarding that “mysterious” SB 440. (You guys ROCK!)

Keep the calls and emails going, they are absolutely being noticed:

PA State Senator John R. Gordner, chairman Labor & Industry Committee
Phone: 717-787-8928; e-mail: jgordner@pasen.gov
PA State Representative Dennis O’Brien, chairman of Judiciary Committee (which is stalling HB 352 in the PA House)
Phone: 717-787-5689; e-mail: dobrien@pahousegop.com

Our petition is making noise too, gang, so sign it or send it to your friends if you haven’t done so already:

http://www.momsrising.org/petition/stop_discrimination_against_moms

Now, on to Joan, Kristin, Laura and Emily in Washington, DC:

First of all, I must tell you, Emily McKhann, my blog and business partner who attended the screening of The MotherHood Manifesto on Capitol Hill on Thursday, said over and over again to me how mind blowingly impressive Joan Blades, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner and Laura Pacheco were at the event. Coupled with the fact that they were presenting at the front of the room with some of the most important leaders in our country (Sens. Clinton, Obama, Kennedy, Dodd!) well, Emily said it was beyond amazing.

From Joan Blades:

The event went better than I could have imagined. There was a crowd, people spilling out the doors, but not uncomfortable, and cute babies! (Sen. Obama did some very nice baby holding. I’d already played with the baby he was holding, a big eyed wondering kind of baby who I could tell found me fascinating.) There was so many good people and conversation. Even though our invitation said it, I was still surprised to see Senators Clinton, Dodd, Kennedy and Obama sitting up at the front of the room for Kristin and I to introduce. Kristin was fabulous, all the more articulate in spite or perhaps spurred on by the stylish but increasingly painful red high heel shoes! (It was our running joke as the day wore on…pun almost intended.) The Senators spoke very personally about why these issues were important to them. Laura introduced the film speaking about how as a film maker she often filmed extraordinary things but these were extraordinary people all with ordinary concerns that so many of us share. After the movie I was stunned when the crowd wanted to stay and talk for a while. This was a three hour event! (Staffers were amazed to see a crowd on a Thurs. night when the Senate was in session.) The people there were moved by the issue. The woman that tended the bar wanted Kristin and I to sign a book for her! In over a decade of doing this work, this was the meeting that most spoke to her in all those years. Funny how in some ways this felt like perhaps the greatest validation of all. I am hugely relieved and happy. It was a wonderful event thanks to many people’s hard work and heartfelt engagement. I am very hopeful. I think we just might be able to do something amazing together!

I mean, come on everybody, that is incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAY TO GO Joan, Kristin and Laura, talk about HUGE!

It is an interesting irony that while so many people on Capitol Hill were astonished and dismayed by the fact that it was legal in Pennsylvania to ask prospective employees if they are married or have children and base hiring decisions on the answers, I was on a radio program in Pittsburgh with small business owners who demanded they be allowed to ask exactly those questions.

Yep, so I close this weekly re-cap with a story about going on a talk radio show:

It all started off well. The Marty Griffin show, which is a hugely popular program in Western Pennsylvania on KDKA Radio, wanted to talk to me about the article I had written for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Marty is married to a TV news anchor, has a 22 month old daughter and his wife is pregnant with their second child. So, he explained, he understands the situation. Having never been on a radio program before, I was pleased with how well the half hour was going – great, fun conversation with Marty, talking about Kiki and Pennsylvania, and Marty seemed to be supportive and interested.

Then Marty started to take calls.

The first caller was a very angry small business owner. “I will never hire another single mother again. I completely disagree with all this. Single mothers have ruined my business,” he huffed.

Wow. I pointed out a few things: Making blanket generalizations is wrong and dangerous. It sounds like he’s had some bad luck with some hires. Perhaps there are some management issues going on? But, no, this guy was mad. I think, in retrospect, he is always going to be mad.

The next caller was female, and in my own way I made a generalization because I heard her and immediately thought, “Thank God, a friend!” Nope, another angry small business owner. She too insisted that single mothers were trouble and unreliable and terrible for business. I could tell Marty was starting to think a little differently about the issue.

Again I pointed out how vital the legislation is simply because of these ways of thinking. When I brought up being more flexible, the caller went bananas. What! My business is barely surviving! If that single mom doesn’t show up early to open up my shop I am screwed!

At this point I was writing huge notes to myself and hanging them up on the wall, because it was getting pretty dicey, and I needed to stay focused.

The last caller was yet another bitter small business owner, and we went through the same old dance as with the previous calls. I was starting to wonder where on earth the single moms were who were hearing all this and getting steamed? Would any of them call or email? I don’t know. What about all the business owners I have talked to who said over and over that they only hire moms because they are the best workers?

Marty said he would have me back on, and I hope he meant it. If any of you have a story or some information that can help me next time, please let me know. The hot seat would be much more fun if I had spectacular ammo. We set up an email just for this campaign, so you can get me there: momsrisingpa@yahoo.com.

I will leave you with this wonderful insight from Joan:

I’ve been thinking about how interesting it is that I spoke to a room full of legislative people on the Hill who couldn’t believe that asking a woman if she was married and had kids is legal the same day Cooper was speaking with business owners insisting they needed the ability to ask. I think it is a valuable contrast, so many folks really find it hard to believe that these questions for women are legal, being able to tell them stories of business owners that insist upon the right makes it pretty darned clear that it is a real need.

PS. I forgot to mention how much I love you bloggers. You have taken this issue on in such a big way. An example: If you googled the term “maternal profiling,” the title of the article I wrote for the Post-Gazette, two weeks ago, you would have gotten zero hits. If you google it today, you will get over 20,000. That fact alone says volumes about the power of blogs.

Starting with the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, Kiki visited Rep. O’Brien’s office, the chair of the House Judiciary committee, which is holding up HB 352.

From Kiki:

My first stop was to Rep. O’Brien’s office where I met with his secretary Christine Crone. I introduced myself and gave her the “packet” and asked that Rep. O’Brien PLEASE take action and bring HB 352 to committee now. While I was talking to her, Michael Piecuch, Esq. who is chief counsel to the Judiciary Committee walked over. I repeated my speech to him as well. He said he has been asked if there is federal protection against marital/familial status discrimination. I told him if there were, I wouldn’t have to be fighting for the last 12 years to amend the PA Human Relations Act.

Kiki has now sent oodles of additional, support information to Mr. Piecuch. Perhaps he gets it now? We can only hope. Here is his email if anyone wants to add an endorsement: Mpiecuch@pahousegop.com

Next stop for Kiki was Sen. Gordner’s office, the guy who chairs the OTHER committee that is stalling, the Senate Labor and Industry Committee. It seems like Gordner is bound and determined not to let this legislation EVER see the light of day. Yeah, he’s so not cool.

I think the visit to his office proved enlightening for Kiki:

I met with Emilie at the front desk. When I introduced myself to her and told her about the questions asked during job interviews she said, “They aren’t allowed to ask those questions” to which I replied, employers most certainly can ask those questions and in order to prevent that, her boss needs to take immediate action on SB440. She looked in her computer to check the status of SB440 and HB352 and was surprised to see that both of those bills were presented in February and March of 2005 and NO ACTION HAD BEEN TAKEN ON EITHER ONE OF THEM. Which led into my telling her that was exactly why I was there today. I gave her the petitions and showed her that over 5,000 people want this legislation changed. She said that she and her colleague (I believe the name is Vonda) hadn’t even heard about this legislation until they started getting phone calls from women all over the country asking for action to be taken on it. I didn’t express this but I thought it was very sad and troubling that Gordner’s own people aren’t made aware of the legislation but on the other hand, you should have seen me beaming when she said that people from all over the country were calling in and sending e-mails. I told her she should probably expect more phone calls and e-mails because there IS enough time to pass this legislation and it is solely up to Sen. Gordner to do that. I told her I don’t care if he doesn’t like this legislation – what matters is what the committee has a say about it and if he keeps stalling, they’ll never have a chance to vote on it and women’s abilities to get jobs with dignity and respect will continue to be suppressed. Too many people will suffer by Sen. Gordner’s inaction.

WOW, if that doesn’t get you worked up, I don’t know what will! What is wrong with these guys?

I will leave you with this amazing message from our incredible Kiki:

I have to tell you what I saw that is inscribed on one of the walls outside the front entrance to the Capitol Building. It is this quote: THERE IS A TIME TO PRAY AND A TIME TO FIGHT.

I thought it pleasantly ironic that I have been praying and praying for help on this legislation and have been blessed with meeting all of you and now it is truly time to fight. Having the petitions of 5,243 people in my hands made me feel like I walked into the Capitol with an army! I believe that armed with the strength of the support from all those people truly resonated with the words and tone I used to urge action on the legislation. At least I hope so. One this is FOR SURE: the calls and e-mails still need to keeping coming in to Gordner and O’Brien, and the rest of the Pennsylvania legislature.

_______________________________________

Oh, and this is a “PS,” as if you aren’t totally fired up enough yet — get this email sent to Kiki from a Gordner staffer this morning before she got to Harrisburg (I put some of Kiki’s response at the end and I will include his email address because, well, Todd needs to hear from us, too, I think):

Ms. Peppard:

Thank for you again contacting Sen. Gordner regarding this issue.

As per his August 2 letter to you, the Committee is currently concentrating on bills that have already cleared the House of Representatives and Senate bills that have yet to receive consideration are not on the active agenda due to the limited time remaining in the legislative session.

Todd B. Roup
Executive Director
Senate Labor and Industry Committee
troup@pasen.gov

_________________________________

Dear Mr. Roup,

I am sorry that you will be unavailable today but I am always available to discuss this legislation and can be reached by phone. However, as you said with the limited time available, I feel it is imperative that I come to Harrisburg today so Sen. Gordner can see for himself how many supporters this legislation has with the physical hard copies of the material.

There are 23 other states in this country including states that have a significantly higher number of employers and employees than Pennsylvania does such as New Jersey, Washington DC, New York and California that DO NOT permit questions regarding marital/familial status during job interviews. They seem to be doing just fine with it. Again I have to ask you, why does Pennsylvania continuously and consistently support legal discrimination
against its residents by withholding this legislation???

I don’t think timing is the relevant issue here. I don’t mean to bring up a sore subject, but the midnight vote to give pay raises to our lawmakers is one of those issues that went through in record time – why not this bill?
We’re not asking for a raise, just a chance to get a job with the dignity and respect we deserve so we can support our families. In the 12 years I have been trying to get this legislation passed, not one individual has ever
given me a valid reason why Pennsylvania is not keeping up with the rest of the country in terms of employment equality.

I have seen many other bills fly through the House and Senate over the years and become laws while I have also watched committee chairmen allow bills like SB440 & HB352 languish till their death at the end of the legislative
session. I hope that is not going to be the case this time.

No, it is not timing Mr. Roup, but archaic attitudes that are holding back SB440 & HB352. The word timing is being used as a tool (excuse) to continue to suppress Pennsylvanians (especially women and especially mothers) from
opportunities for survival. If we were to meet you in person today, I would ask you and Sen. Gordner, who was the Pennsylvania state motto written for?

Pennsylvania’s state motto is “Virtue, Liberty, Independence.” Virtue means goodness; liberty means freedom; and independence means to be able to survive on your own without the control of others. These things are very important to Pennsylvania.

There is no goodness in legal discrimination; we have no freedom to get jobs we are qualified to do; and the excuse of timing only enhances us being under the control of others – in this case, we remain under the control of the chairman of the Labor & Industry Committee and the Judiciary Committee who are both holding this bill and our survival in their hands.

For OUR independence sake, please ask Sen. Gordner to bring the bill to committee for a vote. There IS STILL TIME – if he makes the TIME. I will be there shortly to drop off the papers.

Very sincerely yours,
Kiki Peppard