Don't let politics kill health care reform

The old adage that “nothing worthwhile in life is ever easy” is certainly hitting home right now for those of us who have long supported sweeping health care reform.

President Barack Obama’s health care summit was a reminder of just how difficult this process has been, but it also highlighted the many critical issues behind his administration’s determined efforts to push forward.

Teachers and education support professionals represented by the Pennsylvania State Education Association see day in and day out how the lack of proper, affordable health care has a profound impact on children in the classroom.

Research cited indicates that students who come to school healthy are more ready to learn, while those who lack basic medical, dental, mental health, and nutritional care fall behind early, miss more days of school, and struggle to make up that deficit.

Public school accountability proposals often confuse symptoms with diagnosis. There is evidence to suggest that low student achievement is a symptom of deeper issues related to student health and well-being.

In other words, policymakers need to consider that many student achievement issues might be rooted in areas outside academic content and instruction.

Consider the findings from various studies on the relationship between student health and education:

1. Absenteeism related to juvenile diabetes correlates with lower scores on reading, spelling and mathematics tests.

2. Each year, students with asthma miss approximately 14 million days of school.

3. U.S. children lose more than 51 million school hours each year to dental-related illness. Plus, children from low-income families, a large block of the uninsured, have twice as many cavities as other children. Fewer than 3 in 10 children in poverty receive preventive dental services.

4. As many as one in eight adolescents struggles with clinical depression. Early detection and treatment by health care providers is critical.

The above data are only part of the picture and I urge everyone to take a closer at more in-depth information and studies referenced in our Vision report, which is based on the research of various experts, including those from think tanks of differing ideological persuasion.

Famed psychologist Abraham Maslow noted 70 years ago that people cannot focus on creativity, problem solving and understanding facts when basic fundamental needs of comfort and safety aren’t being met.