[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 135 (Thursday, October 1, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H9208-H9209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              ON EDUCATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, we will vote later this week to reauthorize 
the Higher Education Act. This is bipartisan legislation at its best. 
It will open the doors of opportunity to millions of young people. 
Increasing financial aid will bring the priceless advantages of college 
education to many who now cannot afford it.
  I am very proud of this bill, proud to be a cosigner, but it is not 
enough. In order for our children to excel in higher education, we must 
ensure that they have acquired a solid academic foundation in their 
elementary and secondary schools. Sadly, this Congress has paid little 
or no attention to the issues plaguing elementary and secondary 
education. After I was elected in March, I surveyed the schools in my 
district. The findings were shocking. They showed skyrocketing 
enrollments, overcrowded classes, aging buildings, inadequate 
classrooms and poor facilities in general.
  My survey called out for more classrooms, more teachers, more access 
to technology.
  Sadly, these problems are nothing new. My own daughter attended Santa 
Barbara's Roosevelt Elementary School where she spent all of her 
elementary years learning in portable classrooms, which are supposed to 
be a temporary solution. In fact, I just recently visited Cambria 
Grammar School in San Luis Obispo County, where they do not even have 
enough portable classrooms to begin to deal with their overcrowding 
problem.
  And at El Camino Junior High School in Santa Maria, the students are 
crammed into their classrooms and do not even have access to a 
gymnasium. After spending 20 years myself

[[Page H9209]]

working in the Santa Barbara school district as a school nurse, I know 
our children cannot learn in these environments.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been working to pass legislation to deal with 
these pressing problems. One bill would create State infrastructure 
banks to leverage private support for school construction loans. 
Another bill would provide tax credits for school construction bonds 
and direct them toward the country's highest growth areas.
  Another bill would fund 100,000 new teachers throughout our Nation. 
These teachers are sorely needed in our elementary and high schools. 
Unfortunately, as the House races to adjournment, these bills appear to 
have been left behind.
  Our children also need access to up-to-date technology. According to 
a study by the Educational Testing Service, by the year 2005, our 
country will require more than a million new computer scientists, 
engineers, systems analysts and computer programmers. Where do you 
think we are going to find these new employees?
  Our children need strong computer skills if they are to compete in 
the technology-driven job market of tomorrow. Why have we not passed 
the Computers for the Children Act, which would provide tax incentives 
to businesses who donate computers to classrooms?
  Recently I introduced the Teacher Training Technology Act. My bill 
provides competitive grants to local school districts for computer 
training for teachers. Having computers in school is essential. But 
these computers are of no use to our students if we do not have 
qualified teachers who are trained sufficiently to effectively train 
and educate the young people who use them.
  Mr. Speaker, our elementary and secondary schools provide children 
with the basic tools they need for success later in life; yes, for 
entrance into our secondary and college level of education. Our future 
health as a Nation depends on the health of our schools. To ignore such 
a basic national priority is to fail not only our children but 
ourselves.

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