Posted by By Joseph M. Bennett | SCSD physics teacher
Joseph M. Bennett, of Syracuse, is a physics teacher in the Syracuse City School District and a Democratic Party candidate for Onondaga County legislator in the 15th District.
To the Editor:
As a longtime Onondaga County resident, it is disheartening to see that so many of our young neighbors suffer. Every year about 600 children are poisoned in Syracuse due to lead exposure in their homes. The effects of lead poisoning are permanent; they can cause behavioral disorders and impaired cognitive ability. This poisoning is no accident; it is the deliberate choice of slumlords who refuse to maintain safe properties and local governments that have failed to mandate them to action. [Read the complete op-ed at Syracuse.com]