[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 146 (Wednesday, October 14, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10876-H10877]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ON SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION

  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, I firmly believe that it is our 
responsibility as a society to ensure that our schools are not failing 
our children. We can frame this in a positive way. In the United States 
of America, we have no greater calling as a democracy than to ensure 
that our children, the next generation, our greatest investment, 
receive the very best start in life in education that we can make 
available to them. Through our public school system in this country, we 
ensure that democracy is passed from one generation to the next. This 
is no small task that we entrust to our public schools. Through our 
public school system throughout the country in every hamlet, community, 
rural school, inner city school, each student who enrolls is given an 
opportunity to succeed, to make something of themselves. It is our way 
of the American dream. I also believe just as strongly that as this 
session of Congress comes to an end, we must agree on bipartisan 
legislation that will truly improve the quality of education for our 
children. This is a job that we have here in Congress that will be 
enacted by another quality of our public school life that I think is 
central to its success, and that is local control. In each school 
district around this country, citizens elect members of a school board 
to set the policy for that school district. That is the way it should 
continue and that is how our support for education must filter through. 
As a school nurse in the Santa Barbara School District in my community 
for over 20 years, I have seen firsthand the damage that deteriorating 
schools can do to our children. Students cannot thrive academically if 
they are learning in overcrowded and crumbling buildings. I can imagine 
how hard it would be for us in Congress to work if we had to dodge 
falling plaster, to work in our hallways, to contend with leaky roofs. 
Yet this is just what is

[[Page H10877]]

happening now, even today, in many of our schools throughout this 
country.
  When I was elected to Congress earlier this year, I conducted a 
survey of the schools in my district on the central coast of 
California. The results were distressing. The average high school class 
now holds 30 students per class. Over half of the schools conduct 
classes in rooms not meant to be classrooms. And over 80 percent of the 
schools use temporary or portable classrooms. I have personally visited 
and spent much time in classes being held in hallways, in teachers 
lounges, in utility rooms and even in janitors closets.

  Mr. Speaker, let me highlight the Santa Maria Bonita School District, 
which is in desperate need of funds for school construction. This 
district was built to House 6,700 students but the current enrollment 
is 10,500 students. To accommodate growth, 12 of the district's 14 
schools have converted to a four-track, year-round schedule and 175 
portable buildings have been added. To add more would mean taking away 
all the playgrounds that now exist. The children, teachers and parents 
of this community are stretched to the limit. They are calling out for 
some help from Congress so that they can build better facilities. I 
believe that we must answer that call.
  If our students are to have any chance of competing in tomorrow's 
economy, we must not shortchange them today. Even a small investment in 
school construction, bonds, in the ability of school districts to 
borrow money without having to pay interest, a small investment like 
this in our body this week will pay enormous dividends for our Nation 
in years to come.
  Mr. Speaker, I implore us to put politics aside and think of our 
children. Let us stop these partisan fights and put our resources into 
the most important challenge of all, the education of our children.

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