[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 59 (Thursday, May 8, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H2355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THE DECLINING INFRASTRUCTURE IN AMERICA'S SCHOOLS

  (Mr. DAN SCHAEFER of Colorado asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DAN SCHAEFER of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, let me begin today by 
expressing my appreciation to members of the Committee on Education and 
the Workforce for their efforts in trying to strengthen the Nation's 
school system. As a former educator, I am interested in the Clinton 
administration's attention to the declining infrastructure in American 
schools.
  It is clear that the direct assistance is going to be certainly 
advantageous to the schools, but we cannot overlook some of the costs 
that are out there, and electricity is one of those expenditures, and 
the utility companies are the largest nonlabor expense for schools. 
Under the current system, everything, everything is a negotiable 
expense for schools except electricity, and in the case of electricity 
there is no mechanism at all out there that schools have an opportunity 
to shop around for. Direct savings on electric bills are estimated to 
range from 25 to 40 percent for inner city schools, districts and 
States with high electric costs. Such savings, freed up for use in 
upgrading infrastructure and teacher salaries, are certainly there.
  In Dade County in Miami, FL, spent $30 million; in Chicago, $40 
million; in Fairfax County right across the river here, $30 million.
  We cannot prepare our students for the future without saving some 
electricity costs. I urge my colleagues to look closely at the 
restructuring bill that we are coming up with in Congress.

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