[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 35 (Wednesday, March 25, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E473-E480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SCHOOL OVERCROWDING FORUM: PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LORETTA SANCHEZ

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 25, 1998

  Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following testimony for 
today's Congressional Record.

Statement of Carmen Cruz, 6th Grader, Loara Elementary School, Anaheim 
                          City School District

       Hello, my name is Carmen Cruz and school overcrowding is a 
     problem at Loara School. That's why we have year-round school 
     here. In my class, we move, which means we move around from 
     room to room each month. Roving is no fun, yet it is useful 
     because it fits in more kids at school. Some of my friends

[[Page E474]]

     in my room went to different schools last year but because 
     their schools were crowded they had to come to Loara. They 
     used to walk to their school but now they have to ride a bus 
     to Loara. I would be really sad if I had to change schools 
     because I would miss my friends. Before we had portables we 
     had a bigger upper grade playground. That's one of the 
     reasons why I don't like school overcrowding. Two other 
     reasons are that the portables are small and there is no 
     water inside.
       At Loara there were too many students so we hired more 
     teachers. We also had to let cars drive on the playground 
     because there was no room for all the cars that brought kids 
     to school. Now they're making a bigger parking lot and that 
     means a smaller playground. It's good for the teachers and 
     parents but not for the kids. We need funds to build more 
     schools and they have to be close to where the kids live. One 
     issue they're talking about in Anaheim is double sessions but 
     that doesn't help my learning and other children's learning. 
     My Motto about overcrowding is ``More Schools Means More 
     Space.''


     
                                                                    ____
      Statement of Sue Preus, Parent, Anaheim City School District

       My name is Susan Preus. I am a mom. I very actively 
     participate in Anaheim City School District and PTA roles. 
     For the District, I've served, or am serving, on the year 
     round, curriculum selection, and double session committees. I 
     recently received a second appointment to the School Board. I 
     have held most school site PTA offices and currently am the 
     president of the Anaheim Elementary School Council PTA. 
     Overriding all this school involvement is my previous 
     statement that I am a mom, first.
       I have a son in ninth grade in the Anaheim High School 
     District. His primary education was provided in Anaheim's 
     elementary schools. My niece, for whom I provide care, is in 
     second grade in the Anaheim Elementary District. School 
     overcrowding has affected me and my family since my son was 
     in first grade. I became very active in the District nine 
     years ago as a participant in the first committee on year-
     round schools. My son attended one of the first six schools 
     to change to a multi-track year-round schedule. Over the 
     years, the District has placed more schools on this year-
     round calendar to the extent that all 22 schools are now on 
     this schedule.
       Although I personally like year-round for educational 
     reasons, it does create some problems for families. One of 
     the largest problems is that the high school district is on a 
     traditional calendar. This means that if you have a junior 
     high or high school student and an elementary student your 
     children may not have any vacation time together. Child care 
     can be difficult especially for single parent or dual-working 
     parent households. Parents may be able to rely on high school 
     students for child care in the summer, of course at the 
     expense of the older child's ``vacation.'' Such a resource is 
     unavailable for the younger child's off track period during 
     the traditional school year.
       The community has responded slowly to the needs of children 
     having vacation throughout the year. Children still get 
     questioned, ``Why aren't you in school?'' if they are out and 
     about during what is traditionally school time. When a 
     child responds, ``I'm off track'', the questioner seldom 
     understands what that means.
       The typical summer program for children, such as scout, 
     church, and sports camps, summer movie specials, city park 
     and recreation activities, and even some library programs, 
     have not accommodated the year-round students. For example, a 
     child on Track B, with no ``summer'' month of vacation, 
     cannot participate in any camp. ``Summer'' reading programs 
     are active only from June through August.
       It is a constant struggle to maintain a sense of community 
     within our own schools. Keeping everyone informed of events 
     and activities is difficult since 25% of the school 
     population is unavailable at any given time. The year round 
     schedule essentially created four distinct school 
     communities. In order to fairly reach all pupils, site staff 
     and PTA must duplicate all programs: Open House, child 
     services (dental and health check-ups), special assemblies, 
     award ceremonies, PTA fund-raisers, etc. It is also difficult 
     to reach everyone for the evening enhancement activities as 
     Family Math night or parenting classes.
       PTA Boards no longer have a break from their jobs. They 
     must try to enlist volunteers from each track so that all 
     four school communities are represented and to ensure 
     continuity of programs throughout the year.
       The year round calendar has enabled the District to house 
     and educate 7,000 more students than its originally designed 
     capacity. Projections are that pupil enrollment will increase 
     by 1,000 per year for the next five years. Unless we obtain 
     additional facilities we are rapidly approaching another 
     major, more distressing, change to the school schedule--
     double sessions.
       All the extracurricular programs that are already 
     inadequate on a year round schedule are compounded with 
     double sessions. Do we have soccer practice in the mornings? 
     Will the piano teacher hold lessons at 8 p.m.? Will day care 
     watch some children all morning? And will there be enough day 
     care to accommodate the need? These are important concerns 
     for people with moderate standards of living. The situation 
     is worse for those who are not financially secure. How do we 
     implement the breakfast program? Who watches the child when 
     the adults are at work and the family can't afford a baby 
     sitter? What happens to a neighborhood when half the children 
     are ``hanging out'' all morning? What happens to the sense of 
     community? The District would be burdened with a nightmarish 
     bus schedule, complicated classroom and associated facility 
     usage plans, and most likely an inadequate facilities 
     maintenance program.
       Most importantly, child safety is jeopardized by a double 
     session schedule. Imagine a first grade student walking home 
     in the dark during a peak street traffic period. There are 
     many horrifying situations a child could get into, and I feel 
     the cost of a worst case scenario would be too great.
       This is why I have become active in ways I never thought 
     possible. I would never have imagined nine years ago when I 
     became involved in my local PTA that I would now be sitting 
     here, testifying before Congress. However, now is the time 
     for all voices of reason to be heard. Our individual and 
     collective mistake would be to quietly accept double sessions 
     rather than actively support measures such as HR2695 and 
     Governor Wilson's state bond measure. In Anaheim, we know 
     that we must also take action locally and not rely solely on 
     state and federal funds. That is why we are working to pass a 
     local school bond on April 14. The costs to taxpayers for 
     these measures is small compared to the benefits gained by 
     all of our children.


     
                                                                    ____
 Testimony of Mary Alice Madden, Teacher, Lathrop Intermediate School, 
                   Santa Ana Unified School District


                              INTRODUCTION

       It is indeed a privilege and an honor to appear before you 
     today, and I thank you for the opportunity to do so. I have 
     taught for 27 years, the last 17 at Lathrop Intermediate 
     School in Santa Ana, California. During that time I have seen 
     many changes in our schools, not the least of which has been 
     the continual growth in our enrollment, both at my school 
     site and throughout our District.


                   RAMIFICATIONS OF ENROLLMENT GROWTH

       Overcrowding has many obvious ramifications on the daily 
     operation of a school. It also has other effects which may 
     not be as obvious at first glance. I teach at an intermediate 
     school serving more than 2100 students in grades six, seven, 
     and eight. Our campus is seven and a half acres in size. This 
     is well under the recommended size for an intermediate school 
     (which is 20 acres) and well over the ideal enrollment. We 
     are in our sixth year on a 60-20 four-track year-round 
     schedule. This means that we normally have 1500 to 1600 
     students in session at any one time.
       Increased enrollment has meant that we have added 7 
     portable classrooms to our campus. All students and teachers 
     have classrooms in which to meet and we have many excellent 
     programs in place. Year-round education has many advantages, 
     and I am not implying that it is not a sound educational 
     strategy. As we have grown, additional teachers have been 
     added along with an additional counselor and administrator. 
     We have also been awarded grants to provide additional 
     supplies and staff development opportunities.
       However, continual growth from an enrollment of 1300 to our 
     current 2100 over the last 8 years has brought some less than 
     ideal situations. Some of the conditions resulting from our 
     crowding include the following:
       (1) Teachers traveling from classroom to classroom each 
     period. This is a burden for those teachers as they, in some 
     cases, move equipment and materials five times a day. Other 
     teachers change classrooms on a monthly basis, as staff and 
     students leave for vacation or return from vacation.
       (2) We lack the ability to offer intersession classes 
     during student vacation time because we lack classrooms in 
     which to offer these extended year programs.
       (3) We have tried to maintain class size as low as 
     possible, but some classes are larger than we would prefer. 
     This limits the contact time between the teacher and each 
     student during the school day.
       (4) Our library is heavily used, but we cannot always 
     accommodate all teachers who wish to use the facility with 
     their classes.
       (5) We have an excellent computer program, with three 
     complete labs and additional computers in the library, and we 
     offer access before and after school, but not all classes are 
     able to use the labs as often as they would like because of 
     sheer numbers of students. The computers certainly do not 
     replace the teacher, but they provide opportunities to extend 
     lessons. Most of our students come from homes in which there 
     is no computer access.
       (6) Increased pressure on physical education facilities, as 
     bungalows have been added, thus encroaching on available play 
     areas.
       (7) More crowded teacher work areas, as we now have 90 
     teachers where we once had 60.
       (8) Increased pressure on the use of facilities such as 
     rest rooms for students and staff.
       (9) Increased pressure on the use of food service 
     facilities.
       (10) More crowded storage areas, as we now have more books 
     and supplies and need more areas to store these items.
       We have many excellent programs for our students before, 
     during, and after the school day. As a school and a District 
     I feel we have

[[Page E475]]

     responded creatively and effectively to the challenges which 
     have arisen as a result of continual growth. However, if we 
     are talking about providing the best possible educational 
     environment for our students, we are certainly talking about 
     additional school construction and reduction in school 
     enrollment so all students may have maximum access to all 
     facilities and resources.
       I thank you for your interest in, and support of, our 
     educational programs, and I thank you for the opportunity to 
     share some of our concerns.


     
                                                                    ____
 Testimony of Judith Magsaysay, Principal, Pio Pico Elementary School, 
                             Santa Ana, CA

       It is a privilege to meet with you this morning and to have 
     this opportunity to share with you some of the challenging 
     issues confronting just one of many overcrowded schools in 
     Southern California. I am Judith Magsaysay, principal of Pio 
     Pico Elementary School in the Santa Ana Unified School 
     District.
       Pio Pico is a year-round school located in central Santa 
     Ana. The neighborhood surrounding the school is home to some 
     26,000 young people under the age of eighteen, making it the 
     second densest neighborhood in the United States, in terms of 
     youth population. There are six elementary schools, two 
     intermediate schools and one high school all within walking 
     distance of the Boys and Girls Club across the street from 
     Pio Pico. Pio Pico has just under 900 students and backs up 
     to the Lowell Elementary campus which services about 1,000 
     students. We are just three blocks north of Martin Elementary 
     which also has about 1,000 students.
       Due to overcrowding, we have had a ``nomadic'' history. Pio 
     Pico opened in portables in July, 1991 on the Martin 
     Elementary playground. At the time, Martin had 1,630 students 
     and our new school was not scheduled to be constructed before 
     1994. Due to the need to better serve students in this 
     crowded neighborhood, our Board of Education decided to open 
     Pio Pico as a ``school within a school.'' The following July, 
     we moved into a portable school on the lot of out future 
     school site. A year later, in 1993, to help downsize Lowell 
     Elementary, which had swelled to over 1,300 students, we 
     ``annexed'' another five portables on the Lowell campus which 
     is adjacent to our lot. Finally, in December of 1995, we 
     moved into our new building with 600 students.
       Actually, all year-around schools have nomadic teachers. 
     Usually, four teachers share three classrooms over the course 
     of the school year. When one of the four goes off-cycle (on 
     vacation), she must pack up all of her personal belongings 
     and those of her students and store them. Where space 
     permits, schools provide closets or cabinets on rollers. At 
     Pio Pico and at other extremely cramped campuses this moving 
     is exacerbated by the fact that we have so little storage 
     space for books and materials for the on-cycle teachers and 
     students, let alone enough storage for the off-cycle 
     teachers' materials. Many of our teachers end up taking 
     carloads and carloads of their things home each trimester.
       This requires a lot of time and physical energy on the part 
     of the teaching an custodial staff. Teachers going off-cycle 
     are given a one-hour early dismissal on the last day of the 
     trimester. Those teaches who are returning receive a ``duty 
     day'' for unpacking and setting up their classrooms. Most 
     teachers spend many additional evening and weekend hours to 
     adequately prepare their classroom environment for students.
       Pio Pico sits on a 3.5 acre lot. The California Department 
     of Education recommends that elementary schools be built on 
     lots of approximately ten acres. Our lot is less then half of 
     this optimum size . . . and that's not taking into 
     consideration the addition of portables! The building was 
     designed to serve a maximum of 630 students in 21 classrooms. 
     With the four cycle year-round schedule, we were able to 
     serve a maximum of 850 students in the 1995-96 school year.
       Then along came class size reduction. We all agree that 
     this is a good thing for kids. But in already overcrowded 
     schools, it has been a space nightmare. There was very 
     limited space to begin with, for children to run and play. To 
     assist with downsizing in first grade, the District moved 
     three portables into out already undersize playground. While 
     awaiting the arrival and hook-up of the portables, we set up 
     three classes of first graders in our Multipurpose Room for 
     six months. During that time our school had no indoor 
     gathering place for the music program, for assemblies and 
     presentations, for after school dance clubs. etc. We held 
     parent meetings in the library where we couldn't seat even 
     half of the parents in attendance.
       During the 1996-97 school year, a committee of teachers and 
     parents conducted a study of alternative year-round calendars 
     to create additional space for class size reduction in third 
     grade. They spoke with a number of Los Angeles Unified School 
     District staff members and parents who were on Concept 6 and 
     realized that we could downsize in third without adding any 
     extra portables if we switched to this year-round model. In 
     July, 1997, the SAUSD allowed Pio Pico to begin a pilot 
     implementation of the Concept 6 calender.
       Concept 6 consists of three, instead of four cycles; that 
     is, two cycles are in session and one cycle is on vacation. 
     Each cycle has four months in school followed by two months 
     of vacation. With Concept 6 we have two-thirds of our 
     students in session as compared to the four cycle year-round 
     schedule which has three/fourths of all students in session 
     at the same time. This has created 3 additional classroom 
     spaces during the school year, enough for us to downsize most 
     of our third grades to 20:1.
       On Concept 6, three teachers share two classrooms. Most of 
     the time teachers share classrooms with the same grade level 
     or close to it. This year, even with Concept 6, we ran out of 
     class space and were forced to open a third/fourth grade 
     class in October which has to rotate between a kindergarten 
     and a fifty grade classroom. We have moved forward with a 
     request for five additional portables to assist with what 
     appears to be inevitable . . . more children . . . more 
     downsizing . . . and not enough classroom, storage and 
     meeting space.
       We are currently in the process of evaluating the academic 
     and space benefits of Concept 6 so that we can make sound 
     recommendations to the other schools in the District that are 
     considering Concept 6.
       The biggest concern with Concept 6 is the length of 
     vacation. While our students receive the same number of 
     instructional minutes each year due to additional minutes 
     each school day, they have about 13 fewer school days than 
     the four cycle year round schools. We do offer some 
     intersessions across the street at the Boys and Girls Club, 
     but not enough to service more than half of the 300 off-cycle 
     students due to space and financial constraints.
       We are fortunate to have a Title VII project at Pio Pico 
     which helps to pay the cost of compensating teachers for 
     conducting intersession classes with their students. Most 
     schools do not have enough money to do this and the summer 
     school dollars are not allocated for our year-round schools.


                         OTHER PRESSING ISSUES

       Due to lack of space, our school cannot accommodate a Head 
     Start Program or Day Care for off-cycle children. Those 
     families most in need of pre-school and intersession 
     interventions are most often in our most crowded 
     neighborhoods. The few Head Start Programs that we have in 
     Santa Ana are filled to capacity, with waiting lists. We are 
     hopeful that outside organizations, such as churches and in 
     our case, the Boys and Girls Club across the street will 
     receive requested funds to allow Head Start to use available 
     facilities or to place portables on their sites for pre-
     school and off-cycle child care purposes.
       A Joint-Use Facility Agreement is currently in the works 
     between the SAUSD and the City of Santa Ana Parks and 
     Recreation Department. We have fewer than half the number of 
     parks and recreational facilities in our city compared to 
     other cities our size. Santa Ana has approximately 330,000 
     residents. We have 40 parks and eight community centers. 
     Oakland, with 380,000 residents has 100 parks and 24 
     community centers. Minneapolis has 360,000 residents and 100 
     parks and 70 community centers. Through joint-use agreements, 
     Santa Ana schools will be more fully utilized for both 
     recreational and educational purposes after school hours.
       I am hopeful that today's hearing will help clarify some of 
     the issues and possible solutions to overcrowding. We must 
     find creative solutions by engaging the larger community, as 
     well as our State and Federal governments in issues impacting 
     the education and well-being of our children, our future.


     
                                                                    ____
  Testimony of Mike Vail, President, Cal-Fed Infrastructure Coalition


                              INTRODUCTION

       Good morning. My name is Mike Vail. I am the President of 
     the Cal-Fed Infrastructure Coalition, a statewide 
     organization of school districts and business interests which 
     was established to support Federal school facilities funding 
     efforts. I also serve as Senior Director of Facilities 
     Planning and Governmental Relations for the Santa Ana Unified 
     School District, one of the fastest growing school districts 
     in California.
       School districts throughout the nation, including those in 
     Orange County, are facing a facilities crisis. A combination 
     of factors, including record student enrollment growth, 
     deteriorating buildings and lack of funding for educational 
     technology, has fueled this crisis. And it threatens our 
     ability to prepare today's students for the workplace of the 
     twenty-first century.


                           ENROLLMENT TRENDS

       Between 1986 and 1997, national K-12 public school 
     enrollment increased by 14 percent, to a record total of 45.2 
     million students. According to the National Center for 
     Education Statistics, this number will reach 48.3 million by 
     the year 2007. The 3.1 million projected new students will 
     create a need for over 6,000 more schools across the nation.
       The impact of this projected enrollment growth will likely 
     be greatest for urban school districts such as those in Santa 
     Ana and Anaheim, since urban districts already have the most 
     overcrowded schools. According to the Council of Great City 
     Schools, the average number of students per school in the 
     U.S. was approximately 511 in 1993-94. But this same 
     average for the districts which serve the greatest number 
     of Title I students was 713, 40 percent above the national 
     average.
       The national enrollment growth trend has been mirrored in 
     Orange County. More students keep coming to our community's 
     schools. In 1986, countywide K-12 enrollment was 337,000. In 
     1990, it had reached 368,226. By 1996, it had grown to an 
     all-time high of 434,420 students, a 22 percent increase over 
     a

[[Page E476]]

     ten year period. This enrollment growth has resulted in a 
     corresponding need for new classrooms. Approximately $203 
     million in new construction applications from orange County 
     school districts are currently on file at the Office of 
     Public School Construction in Sacramento. This figure does 
     not represent the total need, since the State's eligibility 
     rules and the lack of funding discourages many districts from 
     submitting applications.
       Santa Ana Unified, the County's largest school district, 
     has experienced long-term student increases which began in 
     1979. Over the last 18 years, the district's enrollment has 
     almost doubled, growing from 28,700 to nearly 54,000. For the 
     last five years, the largest single grade level in Santa Ana 
     has been kindergarten. As a result, it has been especially 
     challenging for the district to implement Governor Wilson's 
     Class Size Reduction program in grades K through 3.


                       RESPONSES TO OVERCROWDING

       In the past, most California school districts have depended 
     on State monies to meet construction financing needs. Funding 
     for the State School Building Program is derived from the 
     proceeds of statewide school construction bond measures. 
     However, this funding source is very undependable because the 
     State Legislature sometimes fails to place a bond measure on 
     a statewide ballot and the voters of California sometimes 
     reject these measures. Since 1993, only one statewide school 
     construction bond measure has been approved by the voters. 
     The State currently has no funds available to pay for new 
     projects.
       Local school districts in California have the ability to 
     present bond measures to the voters within their community. 
     However, such measures require a two-thirds ``yes'' vote, 
     making approval extremely difficult to obtain. California is 
     one of only four states which has a two-thirds vote 
     requirement for local school construction bond measures. 
     Districts can issue Certificates of Participation (COPs), a 
     lease-related financing, without voter approval. The debt 
     payment of COPs issues is an obligation of the district 
     General Fund. Since per student education funding in 
     California is among the lowest in the U.S., most districts 
     are hard-pressed to support substantial COPs debt.
       Because of the lack of construction funding, California 
     districts have turned to other methods to meet the need for 
     more classrooms, including use of multi-track year-round 
     schedules and the installation of portable classrooms on 
     existing school sites. In Santa Ana Unified, 23 of 32 
     elementary schools and four of seven intermediate schools 
     utilize year-round schedules. The district is currently using 
     over 600 portable classrooms on existing campuses--the 
     equivalent of 27 elementary schools. Over 35 percent of Santa 
     Ana Unified's classroom capacity is provided by portable 
     classrooms. The presence of these portables impact a school's 
     core facilities, such as restrooms and food service areas. 
     They encroach on our small playfields, and are more expensive 
     to maintain than permanent classrooms.
       Despite these measures, Santa Ana Unified needs to build at 
     least one new high school and three new elementary schools. 
     These projects would not provide enough classrooms to 
     implement the State's Class Size Reduction (CSR) program at 
     additional grade levels, nor would they relieve the need for 
     portable classrooms or year-round schedules. These projects 
     would simply allow the District to ``keep its head above 
     water.'' In order to fully implement the State's Class Size 
     Reduction program in grades K-3, the District would need to 
     add approximately 200 additional classrooms--the equivalent 
     of nine new elementary schools. If CSR was implemented in 
     grades K-6, 500 more classrooms would be required.


               CONDITION OF FACILITIES/LACK OF TECHNOLOGY

       At a time when student enrollments are reaching all-time 
     levels, existing facilities are in need of major 
     modernization efforts. In 1995, the U.S. General Accounting 
     Office (GAO) issued a number of national reports detailing 
     the condition of America's public schools. The GAO found that 
     one-third of public schools, attended by approximately 14 
     million students, needed ``extensive repair or replacement of 
     one or more buildings.'' Almost 60 percent of the nation's 
     public schools reported at least one major building feature 
     in disrepair. Those features included roofs, exterior walls, 
     windows, plumbing, heating/ventilation/air conditioning, 
     electrical power and lighting. Three-quarters of these 
     buildings needed multiple features repaired. About half of 
     all public schools reported at least one unsatisfactory 
     environmental condition. Those included poor ventilation, 
     heating/lighting problems, or poor security.
       According to the GAO, fewer than half of America's public 
     schools have sufficient technology infrastructure, including 
     modems, phone lines and wiring for networks. Even in schools 
     with enough computers, over one-third reported insufficient 
     wiring for computers and communication technology. 
     Accordingly to the CEO Forum on Education & Technology, two-
     thirds of America's schools are connected to the Internet, 
     but only 14 percent of classrooms have Internet access. The 
     business leaders also found that only three percent of public 
     schools are using technology to maximum benefit.
       Santa Ana Unified's backlog of major modernization and 
     maintenance projects totals over $45 million. Twenty-one of 
     45 schools are over 30 years old. Fifteen of these schools 
     are in need of major renovation. Currently, 5,953 computers 
     are being used by the district's 54,000 students. 
     Approximately 2,900 of these computers are obsolete and 
     unable to connect to the Internet. Most district classrooms 
     have been wired to have the capability of linking with the 
     Internet. However, our shortage of computers (the ratio is 
     one computer for every 17 students) limits actual Internet 
     usage by students.
       The condition of existing classrooms is important because 
     research shows that facilities affect learning. A study 
     performed in Washington, D.C., schools revealed that the 
     standardized test scores of students in schools rated in 
     ``fair'' condition were 5.45 percentage points higher than 
     those of students in schools rated as ``poor.'' The 
     difference in schools between ``excellent'' and ``poor'' was 
     10.9 percentage points, which is significant. Research in 
     Virginia of building condition and students' achievement and 
     behavior demonstrated a five to seven percent difference in 
     percentile ranking of students in higher-quality buildings. A 
     similar study conducted on a statewide basis in North Dakota 
     showed four to 11 points difference in scores when comparing 
     building condition and student achievement.


                               CONCLUSION

       California is trying to do something about our overwhelming 
     school facilities problem. Governor Wilson has proposed 
     placing $8 billion in state bonds for school construction on 
     the ballot over four elections. The Governor has also 
     proposed a permanent funding source for the K-12 maintenance 
     program. To assist local communities, Mr. Wilson supports 
     reducing the threshold for passage of local school bonds to a 
     simply majority. All of these measures would be extremely 
     helpful to school districts.
       We recognize that school construction is primarily a state 
     and local responsibility. But our coalition feels that 
     California's rising student enrollments and overcrowded 
     conditions are creating pressures that must be addressed by 
     all levels of government. Governor Wilson's program is a 
     major step forward. However, it does not totally resolve the 
     school facilities crisis.
       The need is greater than the resources which are currently 
     available. The Federal government should join in a 
     partnership by assisting state and local governments in 
     meeting the school facilities crisis in California and all 
     other states. There is a national interest in strong local 
     educational systems with school facilities properly equipped 
     to motivate our children. This is how they will learn the 
     skills necessary to succeed in a technological and 
     competitive marketplace. The school infrastructure issue is 
     just as critical a national need as the long-standing Federal 
     commitment to assist state and local communities in the 
     building of our roads and highways.
       Thank you, Congressmember Sanchez, for your efforts to make 
     your colleagues in Congress aware of this crisis. The 
     legislation that you have introduced will provide Federal 
     financial incentives for local districts to build the schools 
     needed for the students of today and tomorrow. The Cal-Fed 
     Infrastructure Coalition supports this legislation.
       We ask you and your colleagues in Congress to work with 
     President Clinton on a bipartisan basis to devise a program 
     which will allow the Federal government to give our states 
     and local communities incentives to build the schools our 
     children need.
       Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you about 
     these important issues. I look forward to answering any 
     questions that you might have.


     
                                                                    ____
             The Status of School Facilities in California

     Presented by Sue Pendleton, California Department of Education


                  School Facility Needs in California

       Increased student population.
       Modernization and retrofitting of old school facilities.
       Deferred maintenance.
       Class size reduction.
       Child care.


                   Past Growth in Student Population

       In the past 10 years, California has built enough schools 
     to house over 1.2 million new students (a 28% increase in 
     enrollment).
       To do this, California school facilities increased to house 
     the entire student populations of the states of Idaho, 
     Montana, Utah, Wyoming and Nevada.


      School facilities needs due to increased student population

       In the next 10 years, the Department of Finance predicts 
     California's K-12 population will grow by another 604,000 
     students to a total of nearly 6.2 million students by the 
     year 2006.
       To accommodate this 11% increase, California will need to 
     build almost as many schools as currently exist in all of 
     Oregon and Colorado.
       It is estimated that $8 billion will be necessary to meet 
     this need.


                        School Facilities Needs

       Even without enrollment growth, California has school 
     facilities needs.
     School facilities needs: Modernization and technology
       It is estimated that over 50% of existing schools are over 
     30 years old and many are badly in need of repair. 
     Additionally, schools

[[Page E477]]

     built in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s are not capable of 
     meeting the technology needs of the 21st century.
       To modernize, repair and retrofit existing school 
     facilities will cost an estimated $22 billion over the next 
     10 years.
     Other school facilities needs
       Deferred maintenance--estimated to cost $6 billion in the 
     next 10 years.
       Class size reduction--cost depends on the number of grades 
     implemented--permanent construction for four grade levels is 
     estimated to cost $2.5 billion, not including land.
       Child care--estimated to cost $500,000,000 in the next 
     decade.

           California's School Facilities: 10-Year Need Recap

                                                               Billions
Increased student population.........................................$8
(Does not include existing backlog)....................................
Modernization of old school facilities...............................22
Deferred maintenance..................................................6
Class size reduction................................................2.5
Child care............................................................5
                                                               ________
                                                               
  Total need........................................................$39

            How to Meet California's School Facilities Needs

Historically, school facilities have been funded via a menu of 
    funding options.
     How to Meet the Need
       State bonds--Amount raised in the past 10 years: $9.8 
     billion; Percentage of total funding: 46%; Must be placed on 
     the ballot by the Legislature and passed by the voters.
       Local bonds (except for 1978-1986 when Proposition 13 
     eliminated local bonds as a funding source)--Amount raised in 
     the past 10 years: $5.9 billion; Percentage of total funding: 
     28%; Only half of the attempted elections pass.
       Special taxes--Parcel taxes and Mello-Roos Community 
     Facilities Districts (first authorized in 1983)--Amount 
     raised in the past 10 years: $800 million ($.8 billion); 
     Percentage of total funding: 4%; For registered voter 
     approval, passage rate of less than 50%.
       Developer fees--Amount raised in the past 10 years; $2.5 
     billion; Percentage of total funding: 12%; Limited to 
     providing facilities for new development.
       Deferred maintenance--Amount raised in the past 10 years: 
     $1 billion; Percentage of total funding: 4%; Funding based on 
     amount of excess bond repayments.
       Multitrack year-round education to reduce the need for new 
     construction--Construction cost avoided in the past 10 years: 
     $1.2 billion; Percentage of total funding: 6%.
     Other funding sources
       Redevelopment.
       Asset management.
       Parcel tax.
       Certificates of Participation repaid by school district 
     general fund.
       Federal Government.

    California's School Facilities: Historical 10-Year Funding Recap

                                                               Billions
State bonds........................................................$9.8
Local bonds.........................................................5.9
Mello-Roos (special taxes)..........................................0.8
Developer fees......................................................2.5
Deferred maintenance................................................1.0
MTYRE (cost avoided)................................................1.2
                                                               ________
                                                               
  Total funding...................................................$21.2

          Who is Responsible for Providing School Facilities?

Key players: Local education agencies and Governmental agencies such 
    as State Allocation Board; California Department of Education, 
    School Facilities Planning Division; Department of General 
    Services, Office of Public School Construction and Division of 
    the State Architect; and the Federal Government.

         .....................................................

National Trends and Local Impact: Condition of School Facilities in the 
                  Anaheim City School District (ACSD)

         By Maria Elena-Romero, Assistant Superintendent, ACSD


                      Welcome to Loara Elementary

       Loara auditorium is 53 years old. Loara classrooms were 
     built between 1953 and 1957. Enrollment at Loara is over 900 
     students: 120 Kindergartners in double sessions; 284 students 
     in 1st and 2nd grades participating in Class Size Reduction 
     under a limited waiver; and 49 students in special education 
     classes in four classrooms.


                         Other facts about ACSD

       Average age of buildings in the District is 43 years old.
       Nine of our 22 schools have enrollments of over 1,000 
     students.
       One half of our sites are under 7 acres in size.
       More than 200 portables are installed throughout the 
     District. Some are over 25 years old.


                       Student Population Growth

       ACSD has 22 schools serving over 20,230 students from 
     kindergarten through 6th grade.
       ACSD serves the central portion of the City of Anaheim.
       ACSD's enrollment grew over 7,500 students in the last 
     decade.
       During the same period, only relatively small residential 
     housing development has occurred within District's 
     boundaries.


                      Options to Increase Capacity

       Scheduling solutions: Year round calendar, staggered 
     sessions, double sessions.
       Building solutions: Portable buildings, permanent 
     buildings.


                     Original vs. Current Capacity

       Design capacity 12,220--58%.
       Portable capacity: 5,600--26%.
       Year round capacity: 3,217--15%.


                      Year Round Calendar Impacts

       Maintenance: Facilities are used almost 100% of the time. 
     Lack of down time for preventive work. All major construction 
     work must be done with students on campus.
       Rotation of classes: Lack of storage space; furniture size; 
     classroom environment.


                       Portable Buildings Issues

       Cost is approximately $70,000 to $80,000 per unit properly 
     installed. Installation of sinks may increase this cost even 
     further.
       Districts benefit from the flexibility.
       Availability is subject to supply and demand.
       Ground space may be used in a less than optimum manner.


                         ACSD Facilities Needs

       Facilities costs are estimated at $100 million: Four 
     additional schools and modernization of existing 21 schools.
       Funding sources: General fund $9 million; local bond $48 
     million; State match $45 million.


     
                                                                    ____
    Testimony By Judith Michaels, Legislative Director, California 
                         Federation of Teachers

       Reducing class size in California has pushed the topic of 
     school facilities to the forefront of issues facing 
     California education. To provide students with the tools they 
     need to succeed, we must address the challenge of creating 
     funding mechanisms that will match the current and projected 
     need for adequate school and higher education facilities. The 
     need for new schools, modernization of older schools, and 
     technology far exceeds available resources. California's 
     schools currently rely on a combination of resources to meet 
     their facility needs: state bonds, local bonds, developer 
     fees, Mello-Roos Districts, and cost savings by adopting 
     multi-track year round scheduling. As we approach the 
     millennium, we need to look at how this pattern will serve 
     the future, and revise and change the pattern so that we can 
     build the schools we need.
       While much debate about school construction focuses on 
     developing regions, densely populated areas, whether in the 
     cities or in suburbia, need to build or perhaps re-build 
     their schools. Many children have spent their academic 
     careers in portables because of overcrowding; for this reason 
     we believe that we must allocate portions of state and 
     federal funds for what we have come to call unhoused 
     students.
       After a hiatus in the early nineties, California increased 
     its spending on education last year. The increased education 
     budget demonstrated the success of Proposition 98, 
     California's constitutional amendment guaranteeing that a 
     fixed portion of state revenue be allocated to education. 
     This money went to expand the class size reduction program, 
     expand reading initiatives for grades four through eight, and 
     expand community college resources to provide education, 
     training, and child care to help those on welfare return to 
     work. Since school districts cannot use Proposition 98 funds 
     to build schools, this expansion of educational opportunities 
     for students served to exacerbate the facilities crisis. We 
     believe your H.R. 2695 will offer assistance as we continue 
     to work on local solutions. Here are some of the things we 
     are doing.


                               State Bond

       A combination of state and local bonds builds schools. 
     State School Construction Bonds reach the ballot through a 
     series of proposals, debates, compromises, and votes. As on 
     the budget, the state legislature must achieve a two-thirds 
     majority in each house before a Bond proposal goes to the 
     ballot. The legislature failed to achieve this majority in 
     1997, and work continues on proposals and compromises. We 
     hope that these will be successful so that California's 
     voters can vote on a state bond this June.


                     Majority Vote for Local Bonds

       While we believe that the state's primary funding source 
     should remain the general obligation bond, we need to 
     increase California's capacity to raise local funds, and that 
     means changing the current the two-thirds majority 
     requirement for passage of local general obligation bonds. A 
     measure passed by the State Senate currently awaits action in 
     the Assembly.


                          School Configuration

       In the debate on school facilities we must not lose sight 
     of the purpose of building schools. We encourage school 
     districts to explore, design, and implement forms of school 
     organization and management that will avoid excess 
     administrative costs and promote the instructional goals of 
     each school. Before building schools, we should consider the 
     effect the ever increasing size of schools has had upon the 
     education of our students. A misreading of the economies of 
     scale associated with specialization in schools has 
     contributed to a steady increase in school size.
       These larger schools may be cheaper to administer, but they 
     reduce social supervision of students to the detriment of the 
     larger society. And, at some point, the advantages of 
     economies of scale turn into liabilities. For example, one of 
     the factors that reduces the economies associated with large 
     schools is the cost of transportation, both in direct 
     expenditures and in the cost in student time,

[[Page E478]]

     time that students could more profitably spend on academic 
     work. Furthermore, we believe that larger schools have 
     detrimental effects upon students, teachers, and classified 
     staffs; because of the greater size of the schools, we often 
     find more anonymity and alienation. Additionally, large 
     schools lessen each child's opportunities to participate in 
     different social activities in the school setting.
       New patterns of education administration, such as re-
     configuring grade levels or creating schools within schools, 
     help alleviate problems caused by multi-track year-round 
     scheduling, and offer great potential for schools to be run 
     economically and to be educationally sound.


                    continuing and coalition efforts

       The national interest in ensuring high quality education 
     for all students inextricably links California-based efforts 
     with those from Washington. The California Federation of 
     Teachers is part of the California-DC Alliance, composed of 
     millions of Californians committed to better education: K-12 
     school districts and associations, large and small business 
     throughout California, the State Department of Education, 
     labor unions, and law firms. While not a lobbying 
     organization, the Alliance nonetheless works to identify 
     issues critical to the economic health of California and to 
     help keep the California's Congressional Delegation aware of 
     the impact of Federal decisions upon local schools.
       Nationally, the American Federation of Teachers and the 
     National Education Association are working together on a 
     proposal to bring more dollars into school construction. We 
     have created a private sector task force to survey novel ways 
     of increasing available resources to local school districts. 
     This Task Force is looking at ways to leverage more dollars 
     out of the private sector as well as different forms of 
     bonds. We will keep you informed of its progress.


     
                                                                    ____
 Testimony of Dr. James A. Fleming, Superintendent Capistrano Unified 
                            School District

       Good morning. My name is James A. Fleming. I am 
     Superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District here 
     in Orange County. My district is the largest geographically 
     among the 28 districts in our county and is the 3rd largest 
     in student population, with just over 40,000 students.
       Before commenting on the challenge which faces my district 
     and many in Orange County and California, I want to, first, 
     express sincere appreciation on behalf of my School Board and 
     me to Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez for the leadership she 
     has demonstrated on a wide variety of issues of interest and 
     concern to public school advocates. We especially want to 
     thank her today for planning this forum and for her 
     leadership on the ``Expand and Rebuild America's Schools Act 
     of 1997.'' The creation of a new class of national tax-exempt 
     bonds may be just the incentive needed to provide facilities 
     funding to assist suburban districts build new schools and 
     renovate deteriorating schools as the Qualified Zone Academy 
     Bonds provided for our nation's urban areas.
       I thought the most helpful approach to be taken with my 
     brief comments is to use the plight of my own school district 
     as a case study demonstrating the urgency of the subject 
     which calls us together this morning.
       Of California's 999 school districts, Capistrano Unified is 
     the 11th largest. Arguably, however, it is the fastest 
     growing. This year alone, we realized an enrollment of 
     40,115, up from 37,431, our 1996-97 enrollment. This one-year 
     increase in enrollment which could fill six elementary 
     schools, three middle schools or a high school, by itself, 
     represents a 7.3% growth, and this is only the latest year of 
     a pattern. In early 1991, just as I was assuming the 
     Superintendency post of Capistrano Unified, our K-12 
     enrollment was 23,734 students. With the 1997-98 K-12 
     enrollment of 40,115 which I just referenced, we have 
     experienced a phenomenal 62% increase in student enrollment 
     in slightly more than half a decade.
       Our district has coped well with this growth under the 
     circumstances. First, with well over $100 million in state 
     school bond money, we were able to apply creative financing 
     and strategic planning which, combined with local dollars, 
     allowed us to build twelve brand new schools within a single 
     5-year period. We have two more schools under construction at 
     this time and eight more on the drawing board, if the state 
     ever fills its empty school construction coffers. We also 
     presently have a total of 607 relocatable buildings on the 
     grounds supplementing our 40 permanent school campuses. But 
     still, with the growth we are experiencing, even that is not 
     enough.
       Many in our district blame new residential development on 
     school overcrowding. While there is no question that 
     residential development has exacerbated the problem--
     particularly in districts like Capistrano--an even more 
     significant causal factor of school overcrowding is an 
     increase in the birth rate. One need only compare 
     Capistrano's kindergarten enrollment to that of 12th grade to 
     witness the trend. Last June our district bid adieu to 2,143 
     seniors who graduated from one of our five high schools. This 
     September we then greeted 3,456 new kindergartners. These 
     1997 numbers are only the most recent indicators of a trend 
     which has been in place for the last six years. Moreover, 
     since CUSD's dropout rate of 1.6% is negligible, it cannot be 
     assumed that part of the reason for the much lower number of 
     graduating seniors than entering kindergartners is 
     attributable to students dropping out of school.
       We who administer and set policy for the public schools 
     eagerly anticipate the entree of the federal government in 
     helping to meet the housing needs of a tremendously growing 
     student population across America. I have been a public 
     educator for 35 years and do not remember a time when 
     Washington has ever stepped forward on the issue of school 
     facilities in the manner represented by the ``Expand and 
     Rebuild America's School Act.'' The problem is clearly beyond 
     any state's ability to address alone.
       To those of us in high-growth districts within the State of 
     California this federal interest is like a breath of fresh 
     air. Very frankly, we have been disappointed in the state's 
     response to classroom overcrowding up to this point. 
     Inconceivably, even astoundingly, after instituting a high-
     profile facilities-intensive primary class size reduction 
     program on top of record setting student growth, the State 
     Legislature has refused, since 1996, to even place a state 
     school bond on the ballot for the voters to consider. Our 
     Republican Governor has stepped forward and provided 
     leadership on the facilities issue through a series of bills 
     which the Senate and Assembly will consider this session. The 
     newspapers report that the one place he faces opposition is 
     from members of his own party, state elected officials who 
     ironically represent the highest growth parts of the state. I 
     just don't understand it.
       While, the state currently has no money for school 
     construction, local districts which venture into the local 
     bond arena are shackled with an unrealistic and usually 
     unattainable obstacle: overcoming a situation where one 
     negative vote counts double what a positive vote does.
       With no state money available and with our hands tied 
     because of the extraordinary 2/3 vote requirement to pass 
     local bonds, California school districts find themselves in a 
     vise. There is hope, however, if the Governor's-supported 
     package of bills before the legislature this year has a 
     chance of passing: an $8.2 billion state bond issue; an 
     initiative streamlining the school construction/renovation 
     program, and a constitutional amendment permitting majority 
     vote approval for local school bonds. Then we can, at least, 
     begin to realistically address the problem.
       While parents and educators will continue to present our 
     school facilities case to our state legislators, and hope for 
     a successful 1998 California legislative session, it is 
     comforting to know that our leadership in Washington, D.C. 
     has recognized the school overcrowding phenomenon as one of 
     the most serious challenges in public education. Then, 
     through such legislative proposals as the Expand and Rebuild 
     America's Schools Act of 1997, willing to take action in the 
     interests of the children of our nation, children who are our 
     hope and our investment in the future.


     
                                                                    ____
                          School Overcrowding

                         By Jacinth M. Cisneros

       My name is Jacinth Cisneros. I have lived in Orange County 
     for more than 40 years with 22 of those years in Anaheim. I 
     have two children. (A 3rd grade boy and a 7th grade girl.) 
     They attend schools within both the Anaheim City School 
     District and the Anaheim Union High School District. Our 
     family lives are complicated as one child is on a year-round 
     schedule and the other is on a traditional schedule with 
     summers off. I am fortunate to be a housewife in order to 
     juggle the complexities of being a parent. Many of our 
     families do not have the benefit of a parent that can stay 
     home.
       I am concerned about the education of my children. I am 
     also concerned about the education of all of our children--
     yours, mine, and the children in the neighborhood down the 
     street. I have watched Anaheim change over the past two 
     decades. Ten years ago we were surprised by our enrollment 
     increase. (The baby boomers finally decided to become 
     parents.) We thought, ``This can't continue. It will stop, 
     even slow down.'' Five years ago, we were in denial. No one 
     believed the increase and certainly no one believed it would 
     continue. Today, we still continue to grow and to grow and to 
     grow. We are currently over-enrolled by 7,000 students. 
     Demographers project that we will continue to grow 1,000 more 
     students each year for the next five years. The school my son 
     attends was designed to house 600 students. It now houses 
     approximately 1,100 students, with twice the staff and fewer 
     restrooms than 30 years ago. The reality of our numbers 
     slapped us in the face and rudely woke us up! As a community, 
     we came together to work out our problems. Many years ago six 
     of our schools went to a year-round multi-track schedule 
     increasing our ability to house our children. Progressively 
     more and more schools went year-round until, finally, last 
     year the remaining six schools went to the same schedule 
     increasing their capacity by approximately 25%. (Remember 
     that was just last year.) Where are they coming from? There 
     is no new construction, no new housing. How can this be? 
     Anaheim is an affordable community for young families and our 
     schools have continued to offer good, solid quality 
     education. As our seniors move out, a family with young 
     children moves in living close to their work-place. We are 
     also faced with extended families and multiple families 
     living in one home or apartment. Come this July we will be 
     out of space again as 1,000

[[Page E479]]

     more students arrive on our school house steps. What will we 
     do?
       Up until now, Anaheim has coped well with its problems--
     maybe too well. Each new wave of enrollment led to using a 
     new band-aid that fixed the problem temporarily. (The year-
     round band-aid had to be applied several times. The portable 
     classroom band-aid continues to be applied.) Right now--our 
     1st aid kit is empty--no more Band-Aids and we are bleeding 
     badly. At the very least, we need major surgery and possibly 
     CPR.
       The Anaheim School Board responded immediately to the 911 
     calls from the community by placing on the April 1998 ballot 
     a $48 million school bond measure for new school construction 
     and reconstruction of our existing sites. We were given the 
     opportunity to help! A committee of parents, community 
     members, teachers, and business leaders have been working 
     countless hours to educate residents about the problems 
     within our schools and the need for a solution; to carry the 
     message that WE NEED CLASSROOMS and we need to repair the 
     ones we already have. All of the schools in Anaheim are at 
     least 30 years old with plumbing, electrical and sewer 
     systems that need upgrading or replacing. If a generous 
     business in Anaheim donated computers to all our classrooms, 
     we would not be able to use them. Our electrical systems do 
     not have the capacity to handle today's technology. What 
     about the technology of the future? We want our children to 
     continue to be able to compete on the world market. We should 
     have a world class educational system in Anaheim to match the 
     world class entertainment complex in our backyard. Our 
     teachers and administrators should focus on providing the 
     best educational program for our children. They shouldn't 
     have to worry about our constant lack of facilities and 
     problems with space. As a community and as a country we 
     should be able to provide the foundation to build a powerful 
     educational institution. Our schools should not be dealing 
     with Band-Aids and should not worry about where to put the 
     next tourniquet.
       Passage of the school bond will ease our pain to a degree, 
     but we still need your help. This bond will allow Anaheim 
     schools to access state school funding when it becomes 
     available. The Governor has proposed a $2 billion statewide 
     bond providing additional matching funds for the schools. 
     With that money we come closer to actually solving some of 
     our housing problems. Federal assistance in the form of tax 
     free bonds as proposed by H.R. 2695 would move us along 
     toward actually healing our housing ``wounds.'' Funds 
     ``freed'' by H.R. 2695 provide our district with the ability 
     to repair a sinking playground, renovate an entire school, 
     build a lunch structure, or replace old blackboards in all of 
     our classrooms. The possibility exists of coupling the funds 
     for new school construction and matching it with state funds 
     as well. Our children would benefit twice as much.
       We cannot do it alone. We need your help. We need you to 
     recognize the problems and work with us to solve them. When 
     we pull together--local communities, the state and the 
     federal government, we will only produce a stronger 
     educational system. We will be able to utilize all of our 
     assets to the maximum. We will succeed in investing in the 
     future of our children. We will communicate to the world that 
     we value our children and their education.
       If indeed the emergency crews do not arrive in time, if 
     indeed our bond measure does not pass, if indeed the 
     governor's statewide bond or H.R. 2695 does not pass, there 
     is yet one alternative left to try. I need to be honest. It 
     does not cost much money and will double the capacity of our 
     schools immediately--double sessions. Although financially 
     the cost is insignificant, what will the cost be to our 
     families? to our community? to the future of our children? 
     Those costs cannot be measured. The impact is too great! When 
     one session of children begins school at sun up and the other 
     session leaves at sun down, what becomes of the family? Will 
     the Girl Scout Troop or Boy Scout Troop reschedule their 
     meetings to be held at 8:00 at night or how about eight 
     o'clock in the morning? What about soccer or baseball teams? 
     Will the dance teacher offer morning classes? I think the 
     costs of double sessions are too great!
       Our children's future is everyone's responsibility from the 
     custodian to the superintendent, from the superintendent to 
     the mayor, from the mayor to the governor, and from the 
     governor to the President. Passage of a local bond will still 
     not provide enough funds to close the gap that spreads wider 
     and wider over the years. State matching funds will help and 
     federal tax incentives for suburban schools are essential. 
     Provide us with the life line we need to keep us from using 
     any more Band-Aids from our first aid kit.


     
                                                                    ____
Statement by Assistant Secretary of Education for Legislation Scott S. 
                                Fleming

       Representative Sanchez, Minority Leader Gephardt. First, I 
     want to thank you Congresswoman, for calling this important 
     Forum, and extend my appreciation to you, Congressman 
     Gephardt, for taking the time to be here to join us in making 
     a very simple point: there is a critical need, here in 
     California and across the nation, to address compelling 
     school infrastructure needs.
       Whether you are here in California with the fastest growing 
     school enrollments in the nation or in the nation's rust belt 
     where all too often schools have deteriorated to the point 
     where they pose serious safety threats to their students, 
     this nation shares an urgent need to build and renovate 
     school buildings to serve students today and into the next 
     century. In June of 1996, the General Accounting Office 
     issued a report which found a backlog of over $111 billion in 
     repairs and improvements to school facilities nationwide. At 
     the same time, the National Center for Education Statistics 
     projects that school enrollment will increase from 51.7 to 
     54.6 million between 1996 and 2006. Simply to hold our own 
     and maintain current class sizes, that growth in number of 
     students will require over 6,000 more schools than existed in 
     1996. Here in California, the 1996 enrollment which had been 
     projected to be over 5.8 million is anticipated to reach 
     nearly 6.9 million in 2006--more than one million new 
     students. Again, without even taking into account efforts to 
     reduce class sizes, that would necessitate more than 40,000 
     new classrooms in California within a decade. We should make 
     no mistake about the fact that, with all of the talk about 
     meeting the nation's infrastructure needs--highways, airports 
     and the like, failure to also address the school 
     infrastructure needs of this nation will have a serious 
     impact not only on the individual lives of millions of 
     American students, but also on our nation's future economic 
     prosperity.
       As you well know, in the summer of 1996, President Clinton 
     proposed a major initiative to assist localities in 
     addressing this critical need. He proposed a $5 billion 
     package designed to leverage, by ``buying down'' interest 
     rates on local school bonds, $20 billion in school 
     infrastructure improvements across the nation over a four 
     year period. We realized at the time we made that proposal 
     that it would not be an instant or complete solution to this 
     critical situation, but it was a bold step forward, moving 
     the federal government into a new role in assisting local 
     authorities to respond to school overcrowding and 
     deteriorated school buildings in accordance with locally-
     designed initiatives. That legislation was introduced in both 
     Houses of the Congress--in the House of Representatives by 
     Representative Nita Lowey of New York and in the Senate by 
     Senator Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois. We deeply 
     appreciated their leadership and that shown by both of you in 
     working to gain strong support within the Congress for the 
     plan. Unfortunately, during last summer's bipartisan 
     negotiations which led to the historic budget agreement 
     subsequently adopted by the Congress and signed by the 
     President, in spite of strong support by the Administration, 
     it proved impossible to include the school construction 
     initiative within the agreed upon budgetary framework. While 
     the budget package made very significant investments in 
     education, the absence of the school construction proposal 
     was a major disappointment. Since that time, Secretary Riley 
     and the President have made clear their intent to continue to 
     seek ways to finance a school construction initiative, and 
     that has been a priority in the development of the Fiscal 
     Year 1999 budget which will be released on February 2.
       Before moving on, I want to make sure to emphasize that 
     last year's budget agreement included an important 
     Congressional initiative that focuses on the need to help 
     school's serving at least 35% students eligible for free and 
     reduced priced lunches under the Department of Agriculture's 
     school lunch program. That proposal, originated by 
     Representative Rangel of New York, the senior Democratic 
     member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, provides 
     $800 million in special bonding authority to make available 
     interest-free capital for startup costs--including 
     rehabilitation or repair, equipment purchases, and 
     development of course materials and training expenses--for 
     special schools or programs within schools. That $800 million 
     in financing is available in two installments, $400 million 
     in the current tax year and $400 million in tax year 1999. 
     That important assistance for public education is being 
     administered by the Department of the Treasury which last 
     month released regulations to implement the new authority. 
     Under the allocations determined by the Treasury Department, 
     $112.7 million of that interest-free capital will be 
     available to meet needs right here in California. I know that 
     both of you have been supportive of the Rangel program and 
     that, you, Congresswoman Sanchez, have introduced your own 
     legislation, the ``Expand and Rebuild America's Schools 
     Act,'' which expands upon that new approach and focuses it on 
     construction and the pressing needs facing Orange County and 
     similar communities around the nation. Your initiative is an 
     important and valuable contribution to the work that is 
     underway to ensure that real help is provided by the federal 
     government to meet this need.
       Earlier witnesses today have made very clear the real-life 
     impact of school overcrowding on their lives. As the parent 
     of a teenager who spent his fifth grade in a portable 
     classroom in a Virginia public school, I can personally 
     relate to much of what those individuals had to say. When 
     students are left to learn in overcrowded or antiquated 
     facilities, when their schedules are set to fill available 
     space, not to structure the learning experience at optimal 
     times for those young students, the challenge of preparing 
     young minds for success in the twenty-first century is made 
     tremendously more difficult. Just last week, Secretary Riley 
     visited a school in Los Angeles with your colleague, 
     Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald. When

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     they arrived, an unexpected fire-drill was underway. None of 
     us would deny the importance of knowing how to quickly 
     evacuate a school building, but this fire-drill was not for 
     that purpose. It had been triggered by wiring that had been 
     damaged as a result of a leak in the school's roof. The 
     result was lost time in a school day. Any teacher, any 
     principal can tell you that such unnecessary exercises are 
     distracting and disruptive and that losing a block of time 
     like that is not easily reclaimed. That unnecessary fire 
     drill robbed hundreds of young students of important learning 
     time. The same is true when students have to take added time 
     over and over again in a school day to move from portable 
     classrooms to other school activities.
       All of this takes on added importance as we seek to 
     maximize the tremendous potential that technology holds to 
     broaden and strengthen education in America. This month, as a 
     result of changes enacted by the Congress in the 
     Telecommunications Act, schools and libraries across this 
     nation become eligible to benefit from reduced rates for 
     accessing the Internet. Those resources can assist both with 
     readying schools to bring computers on line and in covering 
     the monthly access charges that schools will need to build 
     into their operating budgets. These reduced rates, known as 
     the E-Rate, offer tremendous opportunities to young 
     Americans. But the fact of the matter is that school 
     facilities have to be up to the task. Inadequate wiring 
     systems and overcrowding alike can severely limit or even 
     preclude altogether schools' ability to take advantage of the 
     opportunities that technology makes possible.
       As this Forum comes to a close and you head back to 
     Washington, I know you and Secretary Riley will be working 
     closely together to impress upon your colleagues in the 
     Congress the importance of moving forward, in partnership 
     with local school districts--like the Anaheim City School 
     District, Santa Ana Unified, and others in this area--to put 
     in place a serious, but fiscally responsible approach to 
     meeting these compelling needs. Balancing the budget is not 
     an end in and of itself. Instead, now that we are on target 
     to meeting that goal, we must work together to ensure that 
     essential investments are made that will enable our economy 
     to grow. Educating those who will be the economic brainpower 
     of the next century ranks at the top of those investments, 
     and, as I said earlier, the task of educating all young 
     people to high standards is made much more difficult when 
     they are forced to learn in overcrowded or structurally 
     deficient environments.
       The task of the Congress and the Administration this year 
     will be to ensure that the federal government does its part. 
     Legislation will be on the table with Administration support. 
     We need to work together to move that legislation into law.

     

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