Study finds that being exposed to high temperatures mainly impairs the learning of black and Latino students

Brett T. | 6:35 PM on June 04, 2022

The Washington Post is having a banner day. They’re on their third correction to Taylor Lorenz’s piece, and they’re feeling down that Oklahoma’s abortion clinics aren’t “working overtime” like they were months ago. Now the Post is reporting on the link between climate change and education. Due to global warming, schools are experiencing more “heat days,” which affects all students but has the biggest impact on black and Latino kids.

NEW: The number of 'heat days' — when schools face temperatures of 90 degrees F and higher — is rising across the U.S., and thousands of them lack the AC to deal with it. @laurameckler and @annamphillips look at the #climate impact on American education: https://t.co/XRtq9txILM

— Juliet Eilperin (@eilperin) June 4, 2022

What happened to the billions of dollars sent to the schools to retrofit them to be safe from the coronavirus, with new air filtration systems? Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. school districts were “struggling to spend billions of dollars in federal pandemic-relief money before the funding expires.” Districts had yet to spend 93 percent of the $122 billion sunk into the K-12 education system last year as part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. No one thought to buy air conditioners?

Here’s the best part:

"students scored worse on standardized exams for every additional day of 80-degree or higher temperatures. The study also found that in the United States, being exposed to higher temperatures mainly impaired the learning of Black and Latino students" https://t.co/n0rmrNaynq

— Brendan Nyhan (@BrendanNyhan) June 4, 2022