(ALBANY, NEW YORK) - Assemblyman Chris Eachus knows how it feels to be hot.

As a retired High School Teacher, the Hudson Valley Representative remembers sweltering classrooms that pushed he and his students into hallways, cafeterias or outside under trees to escape the heat.

He was one of several Lawmakers who experienced New York State United Teachers’ (NYSUT) “hot seat,” a portable, plastic sauna erected in the well of the Legislative Office Building to simulate excessive classroom temperatures.

Heat was pumped into the unit to boost temps into the high 90’s - and beyond.

Lawmakers completed a nine-question classroom quiz while sitting at a desk in the unit to underscore the difficulty high temperatures place on learning.

“What I experienced back there I experienced many times in the classroom when it gets that hot, it’s not a learning environment anymore,” said Eachus, who sponsored Assembly Bill A.9011.

If approved, the Bill would require School Districts address heat conditions when classroom temperatures hit 82 degrees and vacate classrooms entirely at 88 degrees.

A companion Senate Bill, S.3397, is sponsored by State Senator James Skoufis.

Eachus considers the sauna demonstration a game changer when it comes to garnering support for the bills: “Senators and Assembly people who were unsure of co-sponsoring absolutely said they’d get on it now.  I don’t think there’s anybody that would vote against this Bill.”

NYSUT President Melinda Person said: “Even animal shelters have maximum heat limits.  Our schools do not and it is disrespectful to both our students and Educators.  When schools are too hot, students can’t learn, and Teachers can’t teach.”

It’s only May, but Educators are already dreading June and the excessive classroom temperatures that come with it.

This past September, indoor classroom temperatures reached the mid-90s and 100 degrees in parts of the State.

To raise awareness, NYSUT distributed copies of its 70-page report: "Overheated: Excessive Classroom Heat" at the sauna event.

It includes first-hand testimony from hundreds of Educators and parents statewide about the toll high temps take on students and Teachers - and fact-based research about the effects of excessive heat on students’ health and academic performance.

“We know that our School Staff will do everything they can to keep students safe,” NYSUT President Person said. “We just want the State Legislature to step up and pass some legislation to help them do it.”

To Read This Labor News Story In Its Entirety, Go To: NYSUT erects portable sauna to make lawmakers “feel the heat”

Photo Courtesy Of NYSNA.