[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 9, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H1053-H1059]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H1053]]


                               EDUCATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 1999, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak about the educational needs 
of our children and about the poor facilities and overcrowding faced by 
schools in my district and districts all across this great country.
  Mr. Speaker, education needs to be our first priority. When I talk to 
my constituents in Queens and the Bronx, the number-one thing that they 
ask me is what are you doing about the overcrowded conditions in our 
schools? The New York City public school system is the largest public 
school system in our country and proudly sends 62 percent of its 
students on to 4-year college careers.

                              {time}  1500

  This is a strong school system; however, it has two huge problems: 
aging buildings and a rapidly growing student population. I believe 
these are problems that plague many other school systems as well 
throughout our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, the schools need our support. The school systems educate 
our children, prepare them for college, and in many cases keep them off 
our streets, safe from harm. But now it is the schools themselves that 
are posing a threat to the safety of our children. Buildings are 
failing inspections, and classrooms are so overcrowded that teachers 
are forced to conduct classes in hallways and other makeshift venues. 
With these strange learning environments teachers cannot teach as 
effectively, and our children are the losers.
  Every child deserves, every child deserves, a safe school and needs a 
safe school to have a chance at success in life. We must make it the 
priority of this House to help our children by helping their school 
systems with modernization and new school construction.
  Mr. Speaker, in my congressional district the school age population 
is growing. This is extremely evident in the enrollment statistics and 
projections for the coming years. Queens and the Bronx are the home of 
many new immigrants to our country, contributing to the ever growing 
population of our schools. Community School District 24 in Queens is 
the most overcrowded school district in the New York City public school 
system. Overcrowding is already severe with School District 24 
operating at 5,768 students, 5,768 students above its capacity. It will 
only grow in the coming decade. By the year 2007, the district will be 
operating at 18,701 students above capacity.
  Mr. Speaker, that is 168 percent over capacity. Congress must and 
should work to alleviate this problem.
  By 2004, high schools in Queens will operate on two shifts and 10-
period days. Other schools in our country and even throughout the rest 
of New York City will operate on a standard 8-period day. For Queens, 
that means students will be starting earlier or ending later depending 
on their shift. Every classroom will be used for classes, eliminating 
the extracurricular activities that are so important in keeping our 
kids off the streets. We all know that children involved in after 
school programs are less likely to be involved with drugs and violence. 
Because of overcrowding, children in Queens, the Bronx are having 
valuable after-school programs taken away from them.
  The condition of the schools in the Bronx and Queens epitomize the 
problems faced by schools throughout our Nation. The average age of a 
school in New York City is 55 years old, and one school in five is over 
75 years old. These schools were not fit to educate our children 30 
years ago, they were not fit 10 years ago, and they certainly are not 
fit for today. In fact, today 33 schools in the Bronx, part of my 
district, need exterior and interior repairs to bring them from 
substandard up to fair conditions. That is right; I did not say good 
conditions, I said fair conditions. These schools failed New York 
school facilities' engineering survey in New York's recently released 
5-year capital plan. School facility engineers listed repairs for each 
school needed to bring them up to code.
  Now I wondered what types of things would be needed in order to fail 
a school. I knew it had to be something bad, but I was not prepared 
with the actual results. In Queens, 12 schools need new toilet fixtures 
for student toilets. Children in these schools simply do not have 
adequate facilities. But that is no so bad when you look at the 
problems that their peers are facing in the Bronx. Three intermediate 
schools in the Bronx, IS 125, IS 131 and IS 192 along with one 
elementary school, PS 140, need repairs to their fire alarm systems. 
Yes, Mr. Speaker, we are sending these children to schools every day in 
the Bronx where they need to repair or replace their fire alarm 
systems.
  There are so many projects, Mr. Speaker. Five schools need new roofs, 
37 schools need structural repairs, including supportive retaining 
walls, sidewalks, re-paved black tops. Thirty-five schools need pairs 
or re-modernization to their heating systems, and 32 schools need pairs 
and upgrades to the security systems, and I am not talking about 
expensive alarm systems, but fencing, new windows and exterior 
lighting.
  Then there are the projects I consider quality of life projects. 
These are things that each student needs to become well rounded. Nearly 
every elementary and intermediate school in my district, 53 in all, 
need upgrades to their auditoriums. School plays are as American as 
apple pie, and why should these students go without them?
  Additionally, 6 schools need gymnasium upgrades, and 10 schools need 
playgrounds, reevaluations and in some cases, construction. Inner city 
children face the greatest difficulty with participating in sports and 
recreational activities. I am sure many of you share the image of 
children jumping rope on black top. Mr. Speaker, that black top is 
cracked and desperately needs re-paving; that is, if there is any black 
top left to re-pave.
  One result of the extreme overcrowding has been the construction of 
temporary classrooms, which are trailers or hastily constructed annexes 
usually placed in school yards or grounds where once school yards were. 
In fact, the school yard I played in as a boy no longer exists. It has 
been replaced by temporary classrooms, and they are now building a new 
annex to that school on the former playground. Then there are physical 
education classes, a requirement for graduation from high school in New 
York State, being conducted in hallways. We need to make our schools 
safe and less crowded, but we also have to restore a quality of life to 
the education of our students as well.
  I used these examples from my district, the 7th Congressional 
District of New York, comprising parts of Queens and the Bronx in New 
York City, to illustrate the types of problems faced by schools across 
our Nation. Whether it be rural, suburban or inner city schools, our 
schools need help.
  Mr. Speaker, our children need help. We need a major school 
modernization initiative, a program that will provide significant help 
to local school districts and States in meeting their needs both to 
build new classrooms in order to keep up with the rapidly growing 
school enrollments and to renovate and to modernize their existing 
facilities.
  I and many of my fellow Democrats support the Rangel initiative which 
provides Federal tax credits to pay interest on $25 billion in bonds to 
build and renovate public schools. This new initiative would have a 
dramatic impact on helping school districts and States across their 
unmet construction and modernization needs. We estimate that these 
Federal tax credits will help local districts renovate or build 
approximately 6,000 schools across our Nation.
  Another democratic initiative is being offered by my colleague from 
North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge). The Etheridge School Construction Act 
would provide $7.2 billion in school construction bonds targeted to 
fastest growing States. Mr. Etheridge's bill and the Rangel initiative 
will particularly help schools facing enrollment explosion like mine in 
New York City.

  I mentioned before the overcrowding in my district and want to 
illustrate how much these democratic initiatives would help the City of 
New York and particularly the Borough of Queens. The 5-year capital 
plan released by the New York Board of Education states that 75,600 new 
classroom seats are

[[Page H1054]]

needed citywide in the next 5 years. Of those, 54 percent are needed in 
the Borough of Queens alone. Simply put, out of the five boroughs of 
New York, one, my home Borough of Queens, comprises more than half of 
the new construction projects needed in our city. In Queens alone, 36 
new schools are scheduled to be constructed in the next 5 years, the 
maximum feasible according to the city of New York. Unfortunately, this 
still leaves us 60,000 seats short by the year 2007. We will be 60,000 
seats short even after we build 36 new schools and after we fully 
implement 10-period, two-shift days.
  These new schools cost money. New York City's Board of Education 
estimates that $11 billion is needed to reach 5 year facility and 
technology goals. Yes, I said $11 billion to bring our schools to fair 
condition and to give our children less crowded schools.
  This is not about whether the Federal Government should be involved 
in education, and it is not about equity for all cities and states. Mr. 
Speaker, the youth of our Nation should not be penalized for a 
population boom in their region, and our States and localities should 
not be criticized for not contributing their fair share. The City of 
New York is spending over $6 billion on school construction, and the 
State of New York, which needs the support of its legislature, is 
hoping to contribute approximately $2.4 billion, but they desperately 
need help, as do many towns and cities across America.
  It is our duty to help our students, to help them by providing 
Federal tax credits to pay interest on bonds in order to help school 
districts and States meet their construction and modernization needs. 
Above all, we need to put our children first, Mr. Speaker. They are our 
future, and I, for one, will do everything possible to ensure that 
every child in New York City, New York State and in the United States 
has a seat in a classroom and a safe learning environment.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield now to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Filner).
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. I thank him for his 
leadership in sponsoring this time so we can talk about the needs of 
our nation's schools. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) just 
talked about New York City. I am going to bring this 3,000 miles west 
to talk about San Diego, California, and the situation is very much as 
the gentleman described in my hometown.
  By the way, I went to school, graduated 40 years ago in I think a 
school in the gentleman's district, Forest Hills High School, just out, 
but I am sure that is a school that needs just the kind of thing. It 
was a great school 40 years ago, it is still there, it has probably 
more than 5,000 students in it, and it needs help.
  Mr. CROWLEY. A great school; as well as the gentleman knows, also the 
school that graduated Paul Simon, the famous musician. Art Garfunkel as 
well.
  Mr. FILNER. We had Simon and Garfunkel a year ahead of us in school.
  I am the former President of the San Diego Board of Education, and I 
know how we have to make our children's education a top priority for 
all of us. Quality education demands that we provide our teachers and 
students with classrooms and school buildings that are not falling down 
around them. In my home town of San Diego, in the towns I represent, 
Chula Vista and National City, California, the needs are becoming 
almost overwhelming. The San Diego Unified School District, which is 
about the sixth biggest school district in the nation, serves 140,000 
children, and we are growing at almost 2 percent a year. Willing to do 
their part, as the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) suggested in 
New York, the citizens of San Diego recently voted last year a $1.5 
billion school bond, and they did that by over 75 percent of the vote. 
That is an incredible support to show that people are willing to use 
their own tax dollars for their top priority, their children. But our 
needs are almost 4 billion by the year 2,013. That is another 2\1/2\ 
billion have to be found. Twenty new elementary schools, two new middle 
schools, four new senior high schools have to be built by the year 
2013.
  Further south in my district, the Sweetwater Union High School 
District, serves 33,000 students in grades 7 to 12. They need $240 
million worth of modernization. They, too, will have a bond issue on 
the ballot next year, and I am sure our population will support it. But 
most of the schools are more than 30 years old, five were built 50 
years ago, two-thirds of them now accommodate more than twice the 
number that they were originally built for. We are running out of room 
in San Diego, in National City and Chula Vista just as you described in 
New York City.
  Like trying to maintain a car with 100,000 miles or more, the job of 
maintaining our schools is increasingly difficult. Let me mention two 
specific examples, just to bring this home. At Castle Park High School 
frequent sewer back ups, water leaks and broken pipes disrupt the 
school routine. The wobbly, 35-year-old gym bleachers need to be 
replaced. Crumbling steps and walkways pose danger because chunks of 
aging cement are missing and tree roots have ripped up concrete. Old 
classrooms have been converted into science labs, but they lack 
adequate lab facilities, and hands-on experiments are severely limited. 
Ten temporary classrooms have no rest rooms or drinking fountains 
because the existing sewer lines cannot handle the demand.
  Hilltop Middle School was built in the 1950s. Its campus has 
deteriorated to the point where routine maintenance and replacement 
efforts have only minimal impact. The teachers have memorized the 
circuit breaker locations, Mr. Speaker, because classrooms regularly 
blow fuses from electrical overhead when lights, and overhead 
projectors and computers are used simultaneously.

                              {time}  1515

  Students cannot shower following their physical education classes 
because of the antiquated plumbing system which cannot produce hot 
water. Long lines to restroom facilities are a daily routine because 
the school has only one set of boys' and one set of girls' bathrooms 
for 1,250 students.
  How can our students develop in this computer age if the wiring and 
electrical supply to their schools cannot handle the computers?
  Physical education should be an integral part of healthy students's 
lives but how can we expect our kids to exercise and then sit in sweaty 
clothes and bodies for the rest of the day because there are no showers 
to use?
  I know we have heard of the broken window theory as it applies to our 
community. That is when a window breaks and is fixed the neighborhood 
maintains its quality. The message is sent that someone cares. 
Opposite, when a window breaks and it is not fixed the message is just 
the opposite. We do not care as a community, and soon another is broken 
and another and still another. Deterioration of the area then leads to 
graffiti, gangs, drugs and crimes. We know that routine.
  We are sending the wrong message to our kids. With dilapidated and 
overcrowded schools, we are telling them education is not important. 
What a disservice to our young people.
  So let us join with the President, let us join with the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Crowley) today, let us join with our colleagues from 
all over the Nation in support of the school reconstruction funding 
proposed in the families first agenda.
  We at the Federal level must do our part in supporting the efforts of 
local school districts and our States. Congress should pass the school 
reconstruction and modernization legislation as soon as possible.
  I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) for his leadership 
here. I also thank the gentlemen from Massachusetts and North Carolina 
and Oregon, and I know we are going to hear from the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Woolsey).
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Woolsey).
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from New York (Mr. 
Crowley) for putting together this very important special order. He is 
doing a great job.
  Mr. Speaker, I ran for Congress because I believe that our children's 
education must be the number one priority in our country, and that is 
why I am on the Committee on Education and the Workforce.
  We must prepare all of our children for the high skill, high wage 
jobs that

[[Page H1055]]

will ensure America's leadership in the next century in the entire 
world market, and at the same time ensure that our children have a good 
place in the workforce. We also can prevent dependency on welfare here 
at home.
  Last year, Congress agreed that small classes are crucial to good 
learning. We passed the President's class size reduction program to 
help schools so that they can recruit, train and hire qualified 
teachers so they will reduce the class size to an average of 18 
students in grades 1 through 3. We did this because current research 
findings prove what parents have known all along what teachers have 
been telling us for years, is that kids who are in smaller classes 
learn better, especially in the lower grades.
  Now we must go the next step, and we must pass the President's school 
modernization and construction initiative.
  Children, even in small classes, cannot learn in trailers or in old 
school buildings that are crumbling around them. We cannot expect our 
children to get a first class education if they are being educated in 
second and third class school buildings.
  We know that America's schools are overcrowded and that they are 
wearing out. In its report, School Facilities, Condition of America's 
Schools, the GSA estimated that billions of dollars are needed to 
upgrade school buildings all across America. About 60 percent of all 
American schools need at least one major repair or replacement.
  My home State, California, leads the Nation in projected student 
growth. It is estimated that overall school enrollment in California 
will increase by 15 percent by the year 2008. This is not even 10 years 
from now. More than 30,000 additional classrooms will be needed to 
accommodate this growth. It is expected to cost more than $4 billion to 
construct enough schools and school rooms to meet this need, and this 
amount does not include the cost of repairs that will be needed for 
existing schools.
  How will communities in California and communities across the Nation 
be able to finance these school improvements? If Congress approves 
President Clinton's schools construction modernization tax incentive, 
schools will be able to take advantage of interest-free bonds to build 
or modernize what is needed for their expansion and their continued 
education.
  The President's proposal will provide 15 years, 15 years, of interest 
rate subsidies for school construction. That will come through bonds 
that are issued over the next 2 years. It is time to show all of our 
children that their school is equally as important as a shopping mall 
or a prison. If we do this, our children will know that they are our 
top priority. Let us put our money where our mouth is. Let us pass a 
real school construction initiative and let us do it this year. 
Remember, although children make up 25 percent of our population, they 
are 100 percent of the future of this Nation, and their education must 
be our number one priority.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Woolsey) for her remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield the floor to the gentleman from North 
Carolina (Mr. Etheridge).
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Crowley) for his leadership in hosting this special order on a very 
critical issue, not only school construction but school modernization 
and really the quality of the environment where our children go to 
school every day.
  I appreciate that, and for the other speakers who have been here 
prior to me today.
  I want to sort of be forced to have sort of a dialogue, if we may, 
because last week I had the privilege of hosting a special order and it 
is tremendously helpful when other Members can have a dialogue on an 
issue that is so important to the future of this country.
  It is amazing to me many times how we talk so much about an issue, of 
how it is important it is, and then when it comes time to funding we 
tend to have a big loss of or lapse of memory, as I say sometimes a big 
slip between the lip and the hip, when it comes time to fund 
educational opportunities for our children.
  Prior to my coming to the People's House 2 years ago, I had served 8 
years as the elected superintendent of schools in the State of North 
Carolina, a State that is not unlike New York or California or any 
other State in this country today that is struggling with overcrowded 
classrooms; making every effort to improve the quality of instruction. 
North Carolina has been cited as one of those States, by the secretary 
of education and many others, for some quality things they are doing in 
the classroom.

  Just this past weekend on Friday I went to East Wake High School and 
had the opportunity to speak to an academic gathering of high school 
students, all of whom had made straight As.
  I hesitate to think how many of this body had made straight As to be 
here, but 5 percent of that total student body had made straight As and 
I was pleased to be there. The challenge that they face is substantial, 
because they are in overcrowded spaces. Every space that should be and 
is, and some spaces that should not be as classrooms are, used as 
classrooms. They had six trailers on campus, and we are getting ready 
to add 3 more, in a county that is struggling to meet their needs.
  Just yesterday, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price) and I 
were at Wake Forest-Rolesville High School in Wake County, which is 
part of my district, where we met with the students and heard them talk 
about the problem of overcrowding. A school that was built for a 
thousand students now it has over 1,600 and a substantial number of 
that student body is now in portable buildings or in trailers. Every 
space in that building is taken.
  Unfortunately, the cafeteria has not been enlarged and neither has 
the library been enlarged. Neither have the bathrooms been enlarged.
  We heard a student talking about the real challenges that they face 
just with discipline, but what he said was, and I think it is something 
that is instructive to all of us, he said we have teachers that are 
called rovers because we are so short in classroom spaces that teachers 
do not even have a home room and they move from room to room to teach. 
He said when I want to go get some special attention from my teacher 
and help, the teacher is not in the classroom. I cannot find the 
teacher.
  Now, that is not unique to my State. It is true all across this 
country. Wake County, as an example, has added 30,500 students in the 
past 14 years. It is growing by 29.7 percent, has grown, since 1970. 
They are adding between 3,500 and 4,500 students each year, depending 
on how many jobs open in the area.
  As I tell folks, this is one of the best areas in the country to find 
jobs, with a 1.5 percent unemployment. It is amazing when people come 
there to go to work they tend to want to bring their children with 
them. We are glad to have that, but it adds pressure to our State and 
to our communities and we desperately need not only to build new 
schools but to modernize, as the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) 
has said, and others have already said today.
  Every school almost in my congressional district is growing by about 
20 percent since 1990. They are building, they are borrowing money, 
they are working hard and it is time now that those of us at the 
Federal level do our fair share and help. I think the President's 
proposal is important. It helps in those communities that have great 
needs, but I think we can do more.
  I have introduced H.R. 996, which the gentleman has been kind enough 
to be a cosponsor on with others, and what this will do is reach out to 
those communities that are growing so rapidly. New York happens to be 
the fourth fastest growing State in the Nation for new students. It is 
called the ``baby boom echo'' because the baby boomers who came out 
after World War II are now having children and they are coming to 
school.
  We need to remember that those young men and women who came home from 
World War II decided that there was a need to make sure that schools 
were there for their children and they put their children through and 
built the bulk of the schools that we now have. It is now our turn to 
step up and help that process.
  The States are doing a lot. Local unions are doing a lot. We can now 
help at the Federal level by giving those tax exempt bonds. It does not 
get in the

[[Page H1056]]

way of anything locals are doing because all we are doing is providing 
the cost of the interest on those bonds. They decide where they are 
going to build, how they are going to build, and it is totally a local 
effort.
  Not only will it provide school buildings, opportunities for 
renovations, it is about $7.2 billion dollars, and let me remind folks 
who are tuning in that the fastest growing state in this country is the 
State of California. The second fastest growing State is Texas. The 
third is Florida. The fourth is New York, and the fifth is my home 
State of North Carolina and it goes down that list. All across this 
country we are seeing tremendous growth.
  If it were not snowing today, and for those who are tuning in it is 
snowing mightily here in Washington, D.C., there are about 53 million 
students in our public schools in this country today, the largest 
number of students in public schools we have ever had in our history; 
in my home State, about 1.2 million, and the number is growing at a 
rapid pace. We need to do our part to help struggling local systems.
  We are calling on them to be innovative. We are calling on them to 
improve academic performance, and they are doing that. We need to help 
teachers have quality places to teach and children have good places to 
learn.
  I often say to civic clubs, and I say it here again because I think 
it is so important, I cannot imagine any group in a town that is asking 
a new business to move in to come in and move to an old rundown 
warehouse and open up their business and say to them the quality of the 
facility does not matter, because I have heard people say that about 
schools; the facilities is not what is important but it is the people 
who are put in it.
  Say that to a local business and see if they will come back and open 
their business in your town. It is important for the quality of that 
facility and how it looks, because when I was State superintendent it 
is amazing how many businesspeople from around the country that do 
commerce would contact us, would ride into town and look at the 
buildings and then they would want to know about the quality of 
construction. It was amazing if they were nice, new buildings. They 
always assume it is good quality, things are going on; and it is.
  It is important to have nice looking facilities and have quality 
because teachers deserve that, and today when we are having a shortage 
of teachers, and last year this Congress passed the first installment 
of 100,000 teachers, we need to finish that this year and keep going.

                              {time}  1530

  But we also need to make sure we have a quality place to teach and 
children have a good place to learn.
  I thank the gentleman for putting together this Special Order today. 
It is important that we continue to talk with the American people, tell 
them to write their Congressmen and their Congresswomen and say to 
them, we need you to act now, we need you to help our local systems, 
help them meet this great need that we have all across America.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina. 
I don't know if it is appropriate, but I am happy that others are 
having the same problem we are having in New York; is that right? Is 
that fair to say?
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, it is true, and I think it is by varying 
degrees, depending on where one is in the country. In certain parts of 
the country, there is a tremendous need for renovation and repair of 
current facilities, not only repairing in terms of repairing the 
buildings and fixing glass, but we have needs for infrastructure.
  We talk about the Internet and computers. A lot of our buildings, 
they are not even wired to accept them, and many places do not have the 
land. Other places are growing so rapidly, they need new buildings. So 
it is a combination. The answer is absolutely yes.
  I think it is different between different parts of the country, but 
it is true all across America. America is one of those great countries 
where one can travel the world and we say to a child anywhere in 
America, if you want to go to public schools, you can go. It is a great 
smorgasbord of opportunity for the future. Step up, enjoy yourself, and 
take all you will.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina.
  I now yield the floor to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu).
  Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for hosting this Special 
Order on a very, very important topic.
  I recently hosted a series of education town hall meetings in 
Astoria, McMinnville, Beaverton, St. Helens, and Portland, Oregon. The 
attendance at these Education Town Halls was absolutely remarkable. 
Clearly, Oregonians are committed to improving public education. 
Congress can honor that commitment by providing resources to help 
Oregonians and all Americans make schools better.
  Many school districts share similar problems: Large class size, aging 
or inadequate facilities, and unfunded or unnecessary Federal mandates. 
However, the needs of each community differ.
  Schools in Beaverton and Hillsboro suffer a crisis of rapid growth, 
creating classroom overcrowding and exacerbating student discipline 
problems. Schools there need the resources to expand and maintain 
school quality. Schools in communities such as Astoria and McMinnville 
need resources to modernize school buildings and provide students with 
up-to-date technologic tools.
  In Astoria, the most modern elementary school was built in 1927. Some 
classrooms have only one electric plug in the entire classroom. This is 
simply not an adequate environment in which to prepare our children for 
the 21st century.
  To help school districts deliver high-quality K through 12 education, 
Congress can help by doing 3 simple things: Reduce class size, 
modernize schools, and decrease Federal mandates.
  First, we can help good teachers do their jobs by reducing class 
sizes in the first through third grades. Experts say that reducing 
class size in the early grades to an average of 18 per classroom will 
enable students to get the attention they deserve, help teachers attend 
to students' specific needs, and identify problems early on when they 
can still be solved.
  This is why I am introducing an amendment to the Ed-Flex bill with 
the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) which will reduce class size by 
hiring 100,000 additional qualified teachers. Last year, Congress 
passed the first year of this 7-year plan. Unfortunately for our school 
children, some in Congress say they were only agreeing to a 1-year 
allocation. Our children deserve each and every year of the class size 
reduction plan.
  Second, we can make it more affordable for local school districts to 
refurbish old school facilities and construct new buildings to 
accommodate rapid growth. This Congress should pass legislation to help 
local school districts afford school construction by paying the 
interest on local school bonds. That is why I am proud to cosponsor the 
legislation by the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) who 
was just here. The legislation will leverage approximately $5 billion 
of Federal money into $26 billion available to local school districts 
for construction and repair.
  Finally, we can lift burdensome Federal regulations to provide local 
schools flexibility and the opportunity for innovation. That is why I 
am a cosponsor of the Ed-Flex bill. We will begin discussion of Ed-Flex 
on this House floor tomorrow morning.
  Ed-Flex will give States real flexibility so school districts can 
fashion solutions appropriate to the communities they serve and avoid a 
``Washington knows best'' mentality. My State, Oregon, pioneered the 
Ed-Flex concept 4 years ago, the first of 12 States nationwide to be 
granted Ed-Flex status. Through Ed-Flex, all States will have the 
freedom to improve school performance and accountability.
  The agenda ahead is clear: Reduce class size, rebuild and modernize 
schools, and give local communities the freedom to implement effective 
school reform. It will take a real commitment by Congress and the full 
energy and passion of every parent, teacher, and student in Oregon and 
across the Nation. We must work hard to meet the challenge, and I thank 
the gentleman from New York for hosting this important Special Order.
  Mr. CROWLEY. I thank my fellow freshman, the gentleman from Oregon.

[[Page H1057]]

 I will also note that it is coast-to-coast, this issue. From Astoria, 
Queens to Astoria, Oregon, we have a similar problem.
  Mr. WU. As an aspiration, it is not just bicoastal, it is bipartisan.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Bipartisan.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield the floor to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Rodriguez).
  Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand here today.
  The only rights our youngsters have, the only privileges they have 
are those rights and privileges we as adults choose to give them. We 
have no greater calling than to provide the very best for our children. 
Our children rely on us, not only for building bridges and roads, but 
also to invest in the needs of our public schools. Through our public 
school systems, we provide these needs that ensure our children are 
able to learn, live and succeed in a safe educational environment.
  Last year, we helped our children by hiring more teachers and 
reducing our class sizes. Now, our teachers will be able to focus on 
the basics such as reading and writing at early ages. So we have taken 
the initial steps, but we need to do more, and we can do more.
  We all know that the environment where our children learn plays a 
direct role in education and has a direct impact on how they are 
educated. We want our children to succeed in a modern economy. We must 
provide them with the classrooms, the facilities that will enable them 
to succeed in the 21st century.
  At the beginning of this school year, I visited Burbank High School 
in San Antonio, Texas to survey the conditions of the school and how we 
expected our students and teachers to function on a daily basis. 
Although I was surprised by the conditions of the school that was built 
in the 1930s, I was not shocked that Burbank is just one of more than 
over 4,000 schools in Texas that are in need of repair and necessary 
upgrades.
  Burbank High School suffered from traditional maintenance problems, 
such as the need for new electrical outlets, and if anyone lives in an 
older home, they recognize the fact that we are not able to put in any 
of the new types of appliances unless we upgrade the system in our 
homes. Our schools are in the same condition.
  We also recognize the importance that beyond immediate electrical 
outlets and those kinds of things, old radiators for heating, and 
especially now when we see the snow and the cold out there, that there 
are some areas that have needs of both having air-conditioning and 
heating that is important for our kids.
  We also recognize the importance of new modern facilities. Burbank 
High School was built at a time before the Internet, at a time before 
cable television, at a time before modern air-conditioning. Nearly one-
third of the schools nationwide fit this same profile, which means our 
children are not being taught in the environment that will prepare them 
for the 21st century.
  The school construction proposal that the Democrats proposed last 
year was and is the only solution to problems that schools such as 
Burbank High School experience at this point in time. Last year, the 
majority party of the House of Representatives missed the opportunity 
to provide bricks and mortar for our schools, and instead opted for a 
proposal such as block grants and vouchers that erode our public school 
system. We must help our crumbling schools by helping States and local 
school districts afford this cost of modernizing our buildings as 
quickly as possible and not come up with proposals but prove only to 
hamper our existing situation. The new Congress we hope will afford us 
the opportunity to do the right thing and put some additional monies in 
construction.
  Mr. Speaker, I just want to add that a lot of people do not recognize 
what one of the largest populations, the baby boomers in the 1950s, the 
individuals that fought in World War II and in Korea recognize, and 
that is that they were there to make sure that those youngsters which 
are ourselves, at least myself, and I am a baby boomer, to make sure 
that we were provided with that access to education. As we turn this 
century, we have what we call the baby echo, the youngsters of the baby 
boomers, our kids. We want to make sure we stand up to the plate to 
make sure we provide them with the adequate resources that are needed 
so that they can compete in the 21st century. It is not only important 
for them, but it is important for us as a country.
  Again, I will close by indicating to my colleagues that the only 
rights and privileges our youngsters have are those rights and 
opportunities that we as adults provide them with. Let us stand up to 
the plate and make sure that we pass this proposal through.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague, the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Rush).
  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Crowley), my friend, for hosting this Special Order. It is so 
important to the Nation's children.
  Mr. Speaker, far too many of America's schools are old and 
dilapidated. They are falling apart at the seams, placing our children 
in an environment that makes teaching and learning incredibly 
challenging.
  Such nearly impossible challenges are faced by the faculty and the 
students of the Fisk Elementary School located in the first 
congressional district of Illinois. This school was built in 1905, long 
before the age of educational technology. The last time Fisk saw some 
capital improvements was in the early 1960s, and since that time, it 
has experienced no other improvements.
  A simple walk around that school makes the case abundantly clear. In 
the large 4-story building, there are no elevators, there are no 
lockers. Students and teachers are forced to walk up and down stairs 
all day long, carrying heavy books strapped to their backs and carrying 
their coats on their arms. The student population, which has swelled to 
almost 600 students, must share the very few bathrooms that are located 
on every other floor in this old dilapidated building. The gymnasium 
also serves as the lunch room and as an assembly hall, thereby causing 
a major logistical nightmare for those faculty Members who want to plan 
special activities and special programs for the students.

                              {time}  1545

  The antiquated structure poses various problems as they begin to 
contemplate wiring for computers and Internet service. Far too often, 
students must suffer in uncomfortable classrooms, too hot in the 
summertime because the windows do not open, or too cold in the 
wintertime because the windows do not close.
  Unfortunately, Fisk Elementary is a mere example of an alarming 
number of facilities in the First Congressional District, in other 
congressional districts, and in school districts all around this 
country. Almost one-third of all public schools were built prior to the 
beginning of World War II in 1939, and are indeed in need of drastic 
renovation and repair.
  At the same time that these dismal conditions exist school 
enrollments are reaching record heights, and yet students are left to 
learn in unsatisfactory and even wretched conditions.
  Now more than ever an aggressive nationwide school construction and 
modernization effort must be implemented, quickly and thoroughly. 
Modernizing the nation's public schools will assist school districts 
with necessary repairs and renovations, and meet the unprecedented 
demand for new classrooms equipped with educational technology.
  The 600 students of the Fisk Elementary School, and that is only one 
example, and those students in classrooms all across this country, they 
are depending on us, they are depending on this Congress, they are 
depending on this administration. We cannot fail our Nation's future.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. 
Udall).
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Crowley) for yielding to me to speak on this very 
important issue of school modernization.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues today in calling for 
school modernization all across this great land of ours. Our Nation's 
schools are crumbling at an alarming rate, and this is compounded by 
the dramatic increase in enrollment due to the so-called baby boom 
echo, the children of baby boomers like mine who are filling our 
schools all over this country.

[[Page H1058]]

  Without a fundamental increase in the rate of school construction and 
modernization, each passing year will bring a school system less worthy 
of our children. I am visiting every high school in my district in the 
next year so that I can see firsthand the spaces in which our children 
are learning and growing.
  A couple of weeks ago I visited the high school in Idaho Springs, 
Colorado, and frankly, I was overwhelmed by what I saw that day. Some 
classrooms could only be accessed by walking through other classrooms 
that were already in session. There were spaces that were unusable or 
completely inadequate for learning, as well as other infrastructure and 
technology problems.
  The citizens in this school district have tried to fix these problems 
by improving school bond issues, but they are a small community and 
unable to meet the full responsibility of financing reconstruction or 
new construction for a new high school. This is a prime example of a 
school district that needs the kind of aid we are proposing.
  There are three initiatives we can take right now to upgrade our 
public schools. First, we need smaller classes. Simply put, smaller 
classes produce brighter, better-educated kids. We need to finish the 
job of hiring 100,000 new teachers in order to reduce class sizes in 
grades 1 through 3, so we can reduce the number of students in one of 
these classrooms to 18 or less.
  Second, we must provide Federal tax credits to enable States and 
districts to modernize and renovate public schools, to improve learning 
conditions, and end overcrowding.
  In 1995, the GAO, which is nonpartisan, by the way, put out an in-
depth study on the state of America's public, elementary, and secondary 
school facilities. I would say to the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Crowley) that the results are staggering. Let me list some of them.
  One-third of the Nation's schools need extensive repair or 
replacement. That is one-third. These schools serve about 14 million of 
our American children. The schools in urgent need are not just in one 
category. They are across the spectrum. Thirty-eight percent of these 
schools are in urban areas, 30 percent are in rural areas, and 29 
percent are in suburban areas, so it covers all the American landscape. 
This backlog of school infrastructure unmet needs totals right now $112 
billion.
  On top of this, 58 percent of our schools report unsatisfactory 
environmental conditions. These problems include things like 
ventilation, heating, air conditioning, and lighting. Then, in 
addition, we have the environmental hazards that I alluded to such as 
asbestos, lead in our water, lead in the paint on the walls, and radon 
gas in our schools.
  According to an audit on behalf of our school districts in Colorado, 
$190 million is needed to correct these most critical safety building 
problems in my home State.
  We might say, why do we need to modernize beyond this particular 
situation? School enrollments are increasing all over the country. Let 
me give a couple of facts from Colorado. We are going to have 70,000 
new students in the next 5 years in Colorado, and the number is 
projected to be 120,000 10 years out. One does not have to be a rocket 
scientists to understand that the demand for our school facilities is 
going to increase dramatically with these dramatic increases in our 
student population.
  The school construction initiatives we are considering in the 
Congress will help our school districts build and renovate facilities 
to keep up with the rapid growth in student population and eliminate 
these safety hazards. That is why I am proud to cosponsor H.R. 996, the 
Etheridge School Construction Act of 1999.
  Finally, we need to equip and upgrade our existing schools with the 
technological tools that students are going to need for the 21st 
century. As our technology continues to play a larger role in our 
lives, we must make sure that we continue to hook up schools to the 
Internet, protect the E-Rate discount for schools and libraries, and 
integrate technology into school curriculum.
  Currently, 21 percent of Colorado schools have insufficient computer 
capacity and 57 percent have inadequate modem lines. That is 
unacceptable.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I believe no challenge is greater for our 
Nation than ensuring that all of our children receive the highest 
quality education possible. By meeting this challenge, we will give 
them the gift of opportunity. With opportunity and preparation, our 
children will be able to live their lives to their fullest potential.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. 
Moore).
  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for his 
leadership on the management of this bill.

  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the School 
Construction Act. The American Society of Civil Engineers has reported 
that local school buildings represent America's most urgent 
infrastructure need. In my school district, the schools provide a 
perfect example of this need.
  The Kansas City, Kansas, School District needs $11.6 million, 
according to a study, to bring them up to standard: to correct 
electrical systems that are real problems in these schools, to provide 
adequate heating and air conditioning, and to replace broken windows.
  Federal tax credits would allow States and local school districts to 
build and renovate local public schools to stop overcrowding, reduce 
school sizes, class sizes, and foster a positive learning environment. 
I urge my colleagues to support the School Construction Act. We need to 
give our children safe and adequate facilities in which to learn. We 
need to give our children the tools with which to learn.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. 
Lucas).
  Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I express my thanks to the 
gentleman from New York for allowing me to have this opportunity.
  Mr. Speaker, we must ensure that our young people not only have the 
best teachers and the best resources, but also the best classrooms to 
meet the challenges of this oncoming 21st century. Children cannot 
learn if their schools are falling apart. Children cannot learn when 
they are packed beyond capacity in a classroom. Children cannot learn 
when they cannot get the individual attention they need.
  Kentucky serves about 590,000 students, with over 350 schools in 
either fair or poor condition, suffering from deterioration and 
requiring immediate attention. The 1998 Kentucky school facility need 
assessments indicated there is $2.4 billion worth of unmet need, 
including new construction for growth and renovation of existing 
facilities to address declining infrastructure, life safety upgrades, 
technology wiring, and handicapped access.
  We must provide our local school districts with tax credits to 
modernize classrooms, to improve the learning environment for students, 
and to end overcrowding. We owe it to our children, we owe it to our 
future.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Kentucky, and I 
yield to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird).
  Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, every day when we address people in this body, we are 
surrounded by young people who look down on us from above and ask what 
we are going to do for this educational system of this country. I would 
like for them to look up to us, look up to us because we have done the 
right thing. We have supported education, not just through our rhetoric 
but through our actions. We have supported education by building 
schools that this Nation can be proud of and in which young people can 
learn and learn with dignity.
  I have come from an area where we have some of the fastest growing 
school districts in Washington State. Southwest Washington, home of the 
Evergreen School District, is experiencing extremely rapid growth. In 
fact, the growth rate is 4.5 percent a year, which means that in just 
over 4 years we will have 20 percent growth, up to 26,000 students in 
that school district.
  We have over 320 portable classrooms in this district, portable 
classrooms, classrooms not designed to last for years and years and not 
designed to house large numbers of students, but that is what we are 
using, and it is a disgrace.

[[Page H1059]]

  I am an original cosponsor of H.R. 996, the School Construction Act, 
and I encourage my colleagues to support this important legislation. It 
will help us leverage up to $7.2 billion in local school construction 
bonds. It will help solve the problems that we were sent here to solve. 
It is a good bill. It is the right bill for America. I encourage our 
colleagues to support it.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Gonzalez).
  Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, as a country, we are in an enviable position. The United 
States is prospering due to a sound economic policy, low unemployment, 
and a balanced budget, but we must not rest on these accomplishments. 
We must build and go forward. We must now address the most important 
issue facing our country, the need to improve our educational system. 
We have the opportunity now to invest in our children and in our 
futures.
  Last year we started down the road to improving our public school 
system by making a commitment to hire 100,000 new teachers at the early 
grade levels in an effort to reduce class size. This will allow us over 
the next several years to reduce the national average class size to 18 
students. In addition, this will ensure that we are providing a solid 
foundation in the essential basics during the crucial early years of 
child development.
  What the last Congress did not accomplish we must accomplish in this 
Congress. Our Nation's schools need to be modernized and, in many 
cases, rebuilt. As we head towards the 21st century, we cannot allow 
our children to be forced to learn in dilapidated schools and in 
crowded temporary facilities.
  In my home town of San Antonio, I have visited schools where space is 
so limited that teachers' offices are in tiny rooms which once served 
as utility closets. If we are looking for improved results, we must 
afford the best learning environment for all of our children. We must, 
in modernizing schools, continue to provide them with the ability to 
access the Internet, not only as an educational tool but also as a 
teacher training tool.
  In addition, we must establish incentives to recruit and maintain 
highly qualified teachers, providing increased support through teacher 
training in specific fields of expertise.
  The President, in his State of the Union Address and in his 
administration's budget, has proposed a comprehensive program to 
improve our public school system. I believe the administration's 
educational agenda is headed in the right direction, and I support the 
President's proposal to provide approximately $22 billion in interest-
free funds for school modernization.

                              {time}  1600

  These funds will benefit schools in virtually all of our districts, 
in some cases rebuilding schools that were built before we very first 
entered the public school system.
  Recently there has been much talk about a global economy. If we as a 
country and our children as the future leaders of this country are to 
participate and prosper from that economy, we must stop the erosion of 
the public school system and work to ensure that the public school 
system not only improves but thrives as we enter the 21st Century.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, just in closing, I want to thank my 
colleagues. We built these schools after World War II to take care of 
the G.I. men and women who came back after fighting that war. We built 
them then; we can build them now. I hope we will build them.

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