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MTA president hits Romney bid to cut school health programs

MTA President Catherine A. Boudreau has slammed Gov. Mitt Romney's proposal to eliminate $12.6 million in funding for school-based health programs in his FY 2005 budget as "short-sighted and irresponsible."

"At a time of increasing need and demand for school health services, these programs serve more than half-a-million students in cities and towns across Massachusetts," Boudreau said.

She noted such societal trends as children with special health care needs being mainstreamed into public schools, school nurses supervising the care of chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and asthma, and increases in "social morbidities," such as suicide and adjustment disturbances requiring early identification and referral.

Boudreau also cited "the increase in the number of parents and guardians without health insurance who depend on school nurses for initial assessments of their children's illnesses and injuries."

"As educators, we know that children must be healthy to learn," Boudreau said. "And school nurses are in a unique position to help students achieve maximum health and attain the knowledge and skills needed to maintain good health throughout their lives.

"School nurses perform an essential service," Boudreau concluded. "The governor's proposal, which could cause school nurses to be laid off across the Commonwealth and would severely hamper the work of those remaining, should be rejected."