[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 102 (Thursday, July 17, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7663-S7664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RACE RELATIONS IN AMERICA

  Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. President, on Monday, the President's Advisory 
Commission on Race met for the first time. Amid the wide-ranging 
discussion on a variety of issues relating specifically to race, 
Chairman John Hope Franklin, the renowned doctor of history, discussed 
the centrality of education and in particular the physical condition of 
our schools and the centrality of that issue to the future of race 
relations in our country.
  Dr. Franklin noted that in his home of North Carolina, there are 
schools that are closed part of the time because it is too hot, and 
there are schools that are closed part of the time because it is too 
cold, and there are some that are closed part of the time because, when 
it rains, it rains inside the school as well as outside the school.
  Dr. Franklin went on to note that the problem of crumbling schools is 
not particular to race but rather it is a problem that transcends race. 
It is a problem that is essential, however, to any discussion of race 
because it speaks to the character of our Nation as a whole. I want to 
quote him because I think it is important. ``It is a remarkable 
testimony,'' Dr. Franklin noted, ``to the profligacy of this country, 
that it will not provide decent educational facilities and 
opportunities for all of our children.''
  I believe Dr. Franklin is absolutely correct. According to the U.S. 
General Accounting Office, every day some 14 million children attend 
schools that are in such poor physical condition that they need major 
repairs or should be replaced outright. Some 12 million children attend 
schools with leaky roofs; 42 percent of schools with more than 51 
percent minority enrollment have at least one inadequate building, and 
29 percent of schools with less than 6 percent minority enrollment--
less

[[Page S7664]]

than 6 percent--have at least one inadequate building.
  In urban, rural, and suburban areas alike, schools are crumbling down 
around our children. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, 
it will cost at least $112 billion just to bring them up to code. That 
price tag does not include the cost of upgrading schools so they can 
incorporate modern technologies in the classroom. The FCC, the Federal 
Communications Commission, recently finalized an initiative that will 
give the schools and libraries deep discounts on telecommunications 
services, which should provide millions of children access to modern 
technology that they would not have otherwise enjoyed. Too many of our 
children, however, will be unable to take advantage of this opportunity 
because their schools lack even the basic infrastructure necessary to 
allow a teacher to plug a computer into the classroom wall. Nearly half 
of the schools lack the basic electrical wiring needed to fully 
integrate computers in the classrooms.
  So the crumbling schools problem has ramifications even beyond leaky 
roofs. It cuts off the ability of our youngsters to take advantage of 
technologies that will help them grapple with the educational 
challenges that they face in their time.
  Schools are overcrowded, also. I have seen schools where the study 
halls are literally in the hallways, where computer labs are on the 
stairwell landings, and where they have erected cardboard partitions at 
the end of corridors in order to create makeshift classrooms.
  These dilapidated, overcrowded schools do not provide our children 
with the kinds of opportunities they will need to compete in the 21st 
century global economy. Nor do these aging and crumbling schools 
provide our children with the educational opportunities all of our 
children will need if we ever expect to move beyond the problems of 
race relations which have existed, like a sore on our Nation, since its 
earliest days.
  While Dr. Franklin was meeting with the President's Advisory Board on 
Race Relations, many of my colleagues over here were meeting to work 
out the final details of the tax bill. President Clinton's tax proposal 
includes an innovative proposal to address the conditions of crumbling 
schools. I hope my colleagues on the conference committee will see fit 
to adopt his proposal.
  The President has called for the distribution of allocable tax 
credits to the States, which would then offer those tax credits to 
developers and builders in exchange for their performing below-market-
rate school construction or improvement projects. States and school 
districts need our help to address the problem of crumbling schools. We 
have to rebuild these schools for the 21st century to give our young 
people the educational opportunities that they need and they deserve. 
Doing so will help prepare our children for the 21st century economy 
and will help build a climate of tolerance among the people of our 
country.
  I would like to take a moment to read a letter to my colleagues that 
I recently received from a superintendent of a rural school district in 
southern Illinois. I remind my colleagues, Illinois--we used to have an 
expression, ``Just outside Chicago there is a place called Illinois.'' 
My State is largely rural once you leave the region around Chicago. I 
would like to read his letter, the whole letter, because I think it is 
important. Superintendent Lawrence Naeger wrote to me. He said:
       I am the Superintendent of Century Community Unit Number 
     100 School District near Ullin, Illinois in the county of 
     Pulaski. I am writing to you in the name of the many citizens 
     of my school district that support your efforts to put 
     dollars back in the federal budget for school construction.
       From the earliest days of our school district, the school 
     house has been a focal point of great community pride--a 
     brick and mortar representation of the commitment which 
     citizens of this school district have made to their 
     children's education. Sadly, economic changes over the years 
     have made our community's commitment more difficult. The 
     alarming number of construction concerns that now exist point 
     to a crisis waiting to happen.
       As time goes by, it becomes evident that small repairs and 
     quality maintenance is not enough. Thankfully, there have 
     been no major health or safety disasters directly related to 
     the structures. However, it is apparent that the leaking 
     roofs, rusted plumbing, overworked heating systems, and 
     crumbling plaster are fast approaching a crisis point. Less 
     visible, but also of great concern, are infrastructure 
     problems related to overcrowding and/or the inadequacy of 
     school facilities for education as we move toward the 21st 
     Century. Classes held daily on a stage in a gymnasium in the 
     elementary school, and electrical systems which are 
     inadequate for today's learning technologies, stand in the 
     way of quality education for our children.
       The Century Board of Education, trying to address these 
     concerns, have been caught between competing demands for 
     local dollars and increasingly restrictive laws regarding 
     access to revenue. As anti-tax sentiment has grown, so too 
     has the recognition that the state and federal governments 
     must become partners in resolving school infrastructure 
     concerns.
       The Century School district is clearly at a critical 
     juncture with respect to the infrastructure of its schools. 
     Decisions are being made on how school infrastructure needs 
     can be adequately met, with a very limited budget. Money 
     spent on infrastructure generally comes from local taxes. 
     While the Century Board of Education is authorized to levy 
     taxes to support its building needs, there are restrictions 
     which severely limit the ability of the board to respond to 
     the emerging infrastructure problems.
       It is important to note, in the not-too-distant future, 
     infrastructure problems which currently exist will likely be 
     compounded as our schools built in the 1950's and 1960's 
     begin to wear out. Though age does not necessarily make a 
     building dangerous or obsolete, construction at that time was 
     typically rapid and cheap . . .
       Beyond the most urgent health and safety issues, there is 
     increasing concern about the need for . . . infrastructure 
     that can support educational reform and desired innovations, 
     infrastructure conditions that can accommodate the 
     integration of technology, infrastructure that can be 
     accessed by all students regardless of disability, schools 
     that can be used primarily for education but for other 
     community purposes as well, and schools that can serve as 
     safe havens protected from society's violence.
       In summary, the Century Board of Education is standing 
     tall, providing the best opportunities for the children of 
     the district to attend school in an environment that is 
     physically safe and conducive to learning. We are being held 
     accountable and are willing to take responsibility to address 
     the deterioration of our school buildings. As well as the 
     growing need for new construction. However, we need your help 
     to fight on for federal dollars to continue the process.
       Please fight for our district, our community, our children, 
     the hopes and dreams of all. Please continue to fight for all 
     the children who attend inequitable and inadequate 
     infrastructures, exacerbated by government red tape and 
     broken promises.
            Sincerely,
                                                  Lawrence Naeger,
                                                   Superintendent.

  Mr. President, I just want to point out as my time runs out here, the 
time really has come for all of us in government at all levels, at the 
local, State, and the Federal Government, to cooperate, to stop 
pointing fingers at each other, stop pointing fingers at the local 
school officials or the State education officials or the township 
supervisors and, instead, form a partnership among all levels of 
government to address this critical problem.
  I urge my colleagues to take a look at the conditions of schools in 
their own States and to consider the implications of crumbling schools 
for our children, for our country, for our future, and for the 
character of our Nation. That was the point that Dr. Franklin made on 
Monday. That is the point that I wanted to bring to the Senate's 
attention this afternoon.
  I am hopeful that, as we go through the rest of this legislative 
session, we can come up with innovative approaches to help States and 
local communities and local governments, such as represented by the 
letter I read, respond to their concern and need and interest in 
providing quality educational opportunities for all of America's 
children.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.

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