[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 130 (Thursday, September 30, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H9181-H9189]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          EDUCATION IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 1999, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, before we start I yield to the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brady).


  Calling For Rectification of Statements Made Earlier Today About Ed 
                     Rendell, Mayor of Philadelphia

  Mr. BRADY. Mr. Speaker, I stand here tonight to clarify the Record. 
One of my colleagues, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Schaffer), spoke 
this morning concerning my mayor and the mayor of the City of 
Philadelphia, and he alluded to the fact that our mayor was out there 
celebrating Chinese rule, Communist rule with Chinese Americans, and 
then because of that he became elected chairman of the National 
Democratic Committee. That is the furthest from the truth that there 
ever could be.
  Mr. Speaker, our mayor is out there celebrating the heritage of 
Chinese Philadelphians, and he was there not to make a political 
statement, and I think that that should be rectified and cleared, that 
the person that made that derogatory statement today must be a little 
nervous because we do have, without question, one of the best people, 
one of the best Americans I know, that I know of for a fact, that can 
head and be Chairman of the National Democratic Committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor a great American, my mayor, Mayor Ed 
Rendell. We have been blessed to have Ed Rendell serve as mayor of the 
City of Philadelphia for the last 7\1/2\ years. In fact, he is the best 
argument that I can think of against term limits.
  Mr. Speaker, we now have to share Ed because America's mayor was 
recently elected and was elected prior to

[[Page H9182]]

the alleged demonstration that my colleague alluded to. He was elected 
chairman of America's Party, the National Democratic Party. They could 
not have made a better choice.
  Mr. Speaker, I wish him well, I wish him all the best. He will not 
need any luck because he works as hard and as tenaciously as anybody 
that I know. Luck will follow him.
  From one chairman to another, You go, boy.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues who have 
joined me tonight to talk about a very important issue, and that is 
education in America.
  Today marks the close of fiscal year 1999. All year my Democratic 
colleagues and I have been working to help pass legislation to 
strengthen our public schools, but this Congress has utterly failed to 
achieve that important goal in my opinion. We are at the end of the 
year; we have no appropriations bills for education. We have not passed 
the reauthorization of the Secondary School Act, and so many 
opportunities have been missed.
  Rather than answer the call of the American people to pass 
legislation to improve education for our children, Republican 
leadership has spent the whole year doing a whole lot of other things 
and, in the end, moving to cut education funding. With 29 days left 
before the targeted adjournment date that they set themselves; we did 
not set it, Mr. Speaker, they set it for this Congress to adjourn; we 
have a lot of educational issues yet to be addressed.
  Mr. Speaker, throughout the month of August, I visited many schools 
in my district and went into every county and every school district. I 
met with students, teachers, parents, staff. We talked about the 
tremendous challenges that they face today, and teachers are doing a 
wonderful job under some tough circumstances. We talked about school 
construction, we talked about school safety, teacher training; we 
talked about the need for more technology in the classroom, we talked 
about encouraging and enticing more African American students, more 
minority students, more female students, into math and science and into 
the technology area. Tremendous needs out there, and Congress can help 
with that.
  I want to now recognize my colleague from California (Ms. Woolsey) 
who has been working on this area all year in the Committee on Science 
where we serve and on education. She has a deep interest in making sure 
that all these groups get an opportunity, and she has worked on 
legislation, and I would yield to her at this time.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. I thank the gentleman from North Carolina very much for 
organizing this special order tonight. It is a particularly important 
issue when we talk about our children and their education, and believe 
me, you are a big voice in this country, having been the Superintendent 
of Schools for North Carolina. You know as much as anybody in the House 
of Representatives what we need to be doing to get our children ready 
for the 21st century.
  I ask you, Mr. Speaker, what is wrong with this picture. Females make 
up slightly more than 50 percent of this country's population, yet less 
than 30 percent of America's scientists are women. Even fewer engineers 
are women, in fact, less than 10 percent. In 1994, there were 209 
tenured faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and only 
15 of those 209 were female.
  Of course, these figures are not surprising when we learn that in 
1985 women earned less than 30 percent of the bachelors degrees in the 
physical sciences and less than 10 percent of the bachelors degrees in 
engineering. Colleagues will not even want to hear the percentage of 
Ph.D.'s in science- and mathematics-based fields that are earned by 
women; it is too depressing.
  Just to give my colleagues an example:
  About 8 percent of the Ph.D.'s in physics in 1988 were awarded to 
women.
  My colleagues may be asking themselves: So what? Is this some 
national problem? And that was years ago, Woolsey.
  Yes, well, this is a big problem; and in some fields, the numbers are 
worse today than they were 11 years ago. In fact, this is a big problem 
for employers, a big problem for women as future wage earners and a big 
problem for our Nation as we compete in the global marketplace.
  The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that between 1994 and the 
year 2005 the number of women in the labor force will grow twice as 
quickly as men. A recent study of school-to-work projects found 90 
percent of the girls clustered in five traditionally female 
occupations. That has not changed over the last years. These 
occupations that are chosen by young women are elementary school 
teacher, nurse, retail sales, travel, hospitality service, and service 
industries.
  My colleagues do not need me to tell them that careers in 
traditionally female occupations pay far less than careers in science, 
math, and technology. For example, Mr. Speaker, a data analyst can 
expect to make $45,000 a year while a licensed practical nurse earns 
less than $25,000 a year and a kindergarten teacher earns only $18,000 
a year.
  The National Science Foundation reports that today the jobs facing 
workers require higher skill levels in science, math, and technology 
than ever before. The NSF report is verified by a letter I received 
from the American Electronic Association, and I hereby introduce that 
letter into the Record:

                             American Electronics Association,

                                                   April 27, 1999.
     Hon. Lynn Woolsey,
     439 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Representative Woolsey: The American Electronics 
     Association (AEA) is the nation's largest high-tech trade 
     group, representing more than 3,000 U.S.-based high-
     technology companies. I am writing to inform you of the high-
     tech industry's growing concern about our nation's education 
     system.
       The U.S. high-tech industry has created 1 million new jobs 
     since 1993, paying an average annual wage of more than 
     $53,000. Recruiting skilled professionals is becoming 
     increasingly difficult for most high-tech companies since the 
     current unemployment rates for many key technology 
     occupations are less than 2%. For instance, the unemployment 
     for engineers is 1.6%; for computer scientists, 1.2%; and for 
     computer programmers, 1.4%. Given the high salaries, rapid 
     employment growth, and low unemployment, it would follow that 
     more students should be entering these fields of study. 
     Instead, the opposite is occurring.
       The high-tech industry is facing a critical shortage of 
     skilled workers. Simply put, our nation's educational system 
     is not graduating enough students to fill the workforce needs 
     of the high-tech industry. Further, we are not producing 
     enough students that are prepared to meet the challenges of a 
     technology-driven economy. This week, AEA released a new 
     report--CyberEducation: U.S. Education and the High-
     Technology Workforce--that provides a comprehensive overview 
     of the education trends that affect the high-tech industry. 
     The report provides a baseline for comparing high-tech 
     education in each state. Key CyberEducation findings include:
       The number of degrees awarded in computer science, 
     engineering, mathematics and physics has declined since 1990. 
     Workers with these degrees perform critical research, design 
     and develop new products, and create new jobs for the high-
     tech industry.
       Foreign nationals are earning a large percentage of high-
     tech degrees: 32% of all master's degrees and 45% of all 
     doctoral degrees are awarded to foreign nationals.
       Although the test scores of American students in math and 
     science are improving, American high school seniors ranked 
     19th in math and 16th in science and when compared to 
     students from 21 countries.
       If these educational trends continue, the growth of the 
     high-tech industry cannot be sustained. Congress has an 
     opportunity to address the shortcomings in our nation's 
     education system with the reauthorization of the Elementary 
     and Secondary Education Act. AEA is currently developing a 
     series of specific education improvement proposals focused on 
     K-12 math and science and the use of technology in the 
     classroom, which we will share with Congress in the near 
     future. AEA and its high-tech member companies are prepared 
     to work with Congress to improve our nation's education 
     system.
           Sincerely,
                                                William T. Archey,
                                                President and CEO.

  AEA wrote to tell me that today the high-tech industry is facing a 
critical shortage of skilled workers and the future is even looking 
worse than it was in the past. Additionally, seven high-tech firms 
including Autodesk, Hewlett-Packard, and Microsoft sent a similar 
letter to all of the members of the Committee on Education, and I 
introduce that letter into the Record also, Mr. Speaker:

                                               September 24, 1999.
     Hon. William L. Clay,
     U.S. House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Representative Clay: Research has shown that the 
     earlier girls are introduced

[[Page H9183]]

     to mathematics and science, the more likely they are to enter 
     information technology (IT) careers. As such, we are writing 
     to express our strong support for H.R. 2387, ``The Getting 
     Our Girls Ready for the 21st Century Act (GO GIRL!),'' 
     introduced by Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA). The bill seeks to 
     encourage young female students' interest in mathematics and 
     science, and ultimately, into high technology careers.
       While the IT industry is thriving and continues to drive 
     U.S. economic growth, we are in the midst of a critical high 
     technology worker shortage. At the same time, 50% of the U.S. 
     population is female yet women currently make up just 8% of 
     the engineering workforce. Moreover, only 3 percent of top 
     executive positions at Fortune 500 companies were held by 
     women. Clearly, we are letting a valuable national resource 
     go untapped. We need to work together to encourage more of 
     our country's women to pursue carriers in technology.
       The GO GIRL! Proposal establishes a program that works with 
     girls beginning in the fourth grade and stays with them 
     through high school. It funds mentors, tutors and events to 
     encourage their interest in technology.
       We support proposals that encourage young girls to be 
     exposed to role models and develop an interest and self-
     confidence in mathematics and science as numerous empirical 
     studies have suggested that girls tend to develop negative 
     attitudes towards the ``hard sciences'' in middle school. 
     While several of our companies employ a variety of mentoring, 
     recruiting and training programs to encourage women to enter 
     high technology fields, we strongly support federal 
     initiatives that strike at the root of this issue in the 
     formative years.
       In your consideration of the Elementary and Secondary 
     Education Act (ESEA), the high technology industry strongly 
     encourages you to consider proposals that not only strengthen 
     math and science education broadly but that aim to target 
     women, minorities and other underrpresented groups to pursue 
     these courses of study. We urge you to consider co-sponsoring 
     Rep. Woolsey's proposal by calling Lynda Theil at 5-5161 and 
     appreciate your consideration.
           Sincerely,
         Apple Computer, Inc., Autodesk, Inc., Compaq Computer 
           Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, Intel 
           Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Motorola, Inc.

  In their letter these companies told committee members that without 
measures like Go Girl we will be jeopardizing the success of Americans' 
thriving technology industry by letting a valuable national resource go 
untapped. Quite clearly there is no way that America will have 
technically competent work force if the majority of students, females, 
stay away from science, math and technology.
  That is why I have introduced a bill to help schools encourage girls 
to pursue careers in science, math and technology. Although my bill is 
formally titled: Getting our Girls Ready for the 21st Century, it is 
known as Go Girl. Go Girl will create a bold new work force of 
energized young women in these technical fields. Go Girl is modeled on 
the TRIO program which has successfully encouraged 2 million low-income 
students whose parents never attended college, and these students now 
are attending and graduating from college.
  Similarly, the lack of female role models hampers female interest in 
studying math, science, and technology. Girls and their parents first 
must be able to envision a career in these fields for themselves and 
for their daughters. Then they need practical advice on what to study 
and how to achieve the necessary academic requirements. Go Girl follows 
girls from the 4th Grade, the grade in which girls typically begin to 
fall behind boys in math and science, through high school. To encourage 
girls' interest in math, science, and technology in the early grades 
girls will participate in events and activities that increase their 
awareness of careers in these fields, and they will meet female role 
models.
  Go Girl participants benefit from tutoring and mentoring, including 
programs using the Internet which is built on a program started by 
Carol Bartz, the President of Autodesk Software Company in my district. 
We can hardly turn on a TV or pick up a newspaper these days without 
hearing about the importance of Y2K preparations, but what good will 
Y2K preparation be if we do not invest in our future workers? And we 
have to ensure that all of our workers are ready for the 21st century.
  American girls are close to 50 percent of America's future work 
force. If they turn away from careers in science, math and technology, 
we will be shortchanging our employers, and our young women will be 
shortchanged as well.
  I hope that my colleagues will join me in sending a message to the 
Committee on Education that our young girls and young women must have 
careers in science, math, and technology. Say to these young women and 
young men: Go, girl. Go to a career in science, a career in math, a 
career in technology, and earn a livable wage so you will be able to 
raise your family comfortably.
  So, Mr. Speaker, that is my speech for today because where we are 
undervaluing all children in our education system by not passing the 
reauthorization of elementary secondary acts for this Nation, we are 
particularly undervaluing our young women.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Well there is no question that all children in our 
public schools have to be reached out to. We have to encourage them, 
and certainly today with the number of youngsters, the females of all 
ethnic backgrounds as well as those who are not represented in the 
technological areas, if we do not encourage them and get them into 
those areas, all of us will lose because they are the future workers of 
tomorrow, and you are absolute true, and as we think about that, this 
whole digital divide that we have, we also have to have a place to put 
them.

                              {time}  1845

  We need buildings in our communities. In the communities throughout 
my district, and I think this is true all across America, we see 
student enrollment continuing to grow at alarming rates. They are 
outstripping the local governments' abilities to keep up with the needs 
of quality schools.
  This Congress has an opportunity to act and must act to help these 
communities cope with these very urgent problems. I have introduced 
legislation, many of you have signed it, we have something like 93 
Members having signed it, and the Republican leadership refuses to 
bring it to the floor or bring it up in committee so we can take action 
on it.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) for her 
comments, because really she has really been a hard worker and been on 
this floor and worked in committee to make sure that education is held 
high, recognizing that the bulk of the money for education really comes 
from the state and local level. But we have a major responsibility at 
the Federal level to provide that kind of leadership.
  Ms. LEE. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I just want to thank you 
once again for your leadership and your commitment to education to all 
of our children in this country and also for conducting this special 
order.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to talk about our national concerns about 
education. It is heartening to know that most people in this country 
want our budget surplus spent sensibly on preserving Social Security 
and securing our future by educating our children.
  Think about it. Rather than getting an insignificant tax cut, which 
is what the majority of taxpayers would have received with the 
Republican tax bill that President Clinton just vetoed, they would 
rather have this money spent on improving our schools. I am very 
heartened by this. The American people have spoken. They want our 
educational system improved.
  We recognize that as a result of over two decades of neglecting our 
schools, especially in communities of color and low-income communities, 
that they are in deplorable conditions. We know that solving these 
educational problems is not only having enough money, but that the 
money be spent to support programs that have clear objectives, that 
have curriculums that are suitable for a highly technical and 
competitive society, that have capable administrators and well-trained 
and well-paid teachers, that have basic support staff, like nurses, 
counselors, attendance clerks, and school secretaries that can call 
parents. The schools must have up-to-date textbooks, adequate 
laboratories, and computer technology, and that the physical structure, 
the schoolhouse, be decent, clean, and safe. Yes, provide an 
environment that is conducive to study and learning. Schools must be 
safe havens for our children, free from drugs and weapons.
  What I have described is a basic educational package that is centered 
around the school. The American public school is one of the most 
powerful engines for uplift in this country.

[[Page H9184]]

  We know that a strong educational system provides systems with the 
necessary background and training to survive in and to lead in this 
world. One significant aspect, however, of a successful school system 
is that it is also a powerful crime prevention tool.
  We know that education is the best form of crime prevention. A 
California-based think tank recently released a study showing that 
crime prevention is the most cost effective way of making sure that we 
do not build prisons. Of all crime prevention methods, education is the 
most cost effective, not to mention that our children deserve to 
benefit from a good education rather than to be set up for a lifetime 
in and out of jail. Yet, rather than invest in education, some would 
have us funnel more money into prisons to fuel the prison construction 
industry, putting money into constructing new prisons and building new 
juvenile detention facilities, as if we are to prepare for the 
inevitable incarceration of our children.
  This is wrong. In fact, the lack of investment in education actually 
contributes to the rise in incarceration rates. Nineteen percent of 
adult inmates are completely illiterate, and 40 percent are 
functionally illiterate. Nationwide, over 70 percent of all people 
entering State correctional facilities have not completed high school. 
In our juvenile justice system, youth at a median age of 15 read, on 
average, at the same level as most 9 year olds.
  So it is imperative that we begin to refocus on education and 
prevention instead of constructing prisons. With children attending 
classes in trailers, being subjected to unheated and sometimes unsafe 
buildings or packed together 35 in a classroom, it is no wonder that 
too many students are not learning and receiving sound healthy starts 
that they need to succeed in a competitive, fast-paced working world.
  My continued experience of working with the youth in my district 
gives me real hope in the knowledge that students have the vitality, 
knowledge, and intellect; and they have the wish to learn and succeed 
and to be good citizens in a healthy, supportive society. They have the 
will and the ambition to achieve.
  Let me give you an example. At the beginning of this month, 2,000 
students from different communities in my district coalesced to 
celebrate a ``Week of Unity: One Land, One People.'' These students are 
members of the Youth Together Project, a multiracial violence 
prevention and social justice project which operates in each of five 
schools to unite students of all races to promote unity and peace on 
school campuses.
  To achieve their goal, they have drafted teachers, parents, and 
community leaders as allies in their effort. I am so proud that the 
students of Youth Together understand that Native Americans, African-
Americans, Latinos, Asian Pacific Americans and Whites, all members of 
our rainbow culture, can work together for peace and justice in our 
schools and communities.
  The children, the youth, will do their part, as will the local 
communities. It is now up to us in the Federal Government to step up to 
the plate. We must support the President's initiative to reduce class 
size by placing 100,000 extra teachers in our classroom. We must 
support our Democratic education agenda by supporting the School 
Modernization Initiative bill, H.R. 1660, and provide our children with 
essential counseling at critical times of their education by supporting 
H.R. 2567, which will bring counselors to the schools. Our teachers 
need to be freed up to do what they do best, and that is to teach. The 
children are doing their part, our teachers are doing their part, now 
we must do our part.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. I thank the gentlewoman from California for her 
comments and thank her for her efforts, her hard work on education and 
for the children of this country, and recognizing that she really is a 
leader in that area. We appreciate that.
  As we talk about these issues this coming year, in the current school 
year we are in we have more school children in our classrooms than at 
any time in America's history, more than we had during the time that we 
talk about the baby-boom after World War II. It is only going to get 
worse.
  Tonight, I can report that officials from the U.S. Department of 
Education have conducted a study, and the documentation of that study 
talks about the tremendous explosion we are having in our public 
schools all across this country. And we are going to experience it for 
the next decade. It is going to continue to come, and then fairly level 
out. We will not have a dip. They have confirmed the earlier estimates 
of what is called the baby-boom echo which has created a crisis in our 
schools, and it is certainly reflected in my State, one of the fastest 
growing states in the country.
  I am disappointed that the Republican leadership has failed to meet 
what I think is its most basic responsibility, to pass the annual 
legislation needed to fund government and has ignored the needs in our 
community to help with school construction.
  That same leadership has refused to act on my school modernization 
bill, but they have also failed to act on one that Congressman Rangel 
has put in that the administration is working with. My Democratic 
colleagues, along with me, have signed a discharge petition, and for 
those folks we need to remind each other what a discharge petition is. 
If we cannot get a bill out of committee, we march up here and sign a 
petition. If we get 218 signatures on it, we can get the bill out. 
Hopefully we can get that done.
  But as we think of that, we need that to make sure children have a 
place to learn, but we also need it to have a place to put the 
technology that is needed in those classrooms for children to be ready 
for the 21st Century, because if we do not put the computers and 
technology in the classroom, there is going to be a tremendous digital 
divide for all of our children.
  I want to thank my friend from Connecticut (Mr. Larson) who has 
worked so hard in this area. He has worked on it in the Committee on 
Science where we served, and he worked on it on the floor and other 
committee. He has taken it as a mission. I thank you for your 
leadership in this area.
  I yield to the gentleman for his comments on this really important 
issue of the digital divide.
  Mr. LARSON. Thank you very much, Representative Etheridge, and thank 
you for your leadership and again for putting forward this very 
important hour to discuss this issue.
  As you have already recognized, school buildings across this Nation 
represent about a $2 trillion investment in brick and mortar, and it is 
an asset we cannot overlook. While I am as disappointed as several are 
that we have not been able to address fundamentally the issues of 
education in this session, I believe that this issue is going to be 
driven forward, ironically not by the Congress, ironically not by 
educators, but by businessmen.
  It is the Commerce Department that most recently issued a report, a 
very startling report, called ``falling through the net.'' In that 
report, what they found is that the gap, the so-called digital divide, 
is increasingly growing worse along the lines of race, gender, 
geography and wealth.
  What that means in this Nation is that at a time when the economy is 
surging and roaring forward, that there is not the pipeline of well-
trained, well-educated individuals to come forward and fill the jobs 
that will continue to fuel this great economic growth that we are 
experiencing. So we fundamentally have got to address issues.
  As was pointed out by the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Etheridge), there are important things that have to be done with 
respect to modernizing our schools. But as we modernize the schools as 
well, it is equally as important that we make sure that they are 
technologically sufficient.
  The people who came before not only the Committee on Science and 
Committee on Commerce, the business community projected that currently 
we have about 350,000 jobs that are going unfilled because we do not 
have people that are coming out of our public school system that are 
digitally fluent and competently trained. The problem is a huge one, 
and it is one where this Nation and Congress, quite frankly, has had 
its head in the sand, and we have to wake up.

  As I suggested earlier, I think it is going to be the business 
community that drives this issue, because primarily they are concerned 
about that workforce in the future. But what the

[[Page H9185]]

Commerce Department's report also demonstrated is this huge gap that 
exists between those who have access to information and those who do 
not.
  In a digital economy we cannot afford to leave anyone behind. That 
gap has grown worse in the midst of this great economy and has grown 
worse, especially for those children in our rural communities and in 
our cities. We have got the ability, we have the technology. What we 
have lacked is a universal ubiquitous plan to make sure we are 
delivering technology in the classroom.
  We have proposed legislation in the Committee on Science that is 
going to address this issue. We hope desperately that it gets taken up 
on the floor, because it is so important that we come up with the most 
efficient means of making sure that fundamentally the transmission of 
voice, video and data in a classroom can be integrated into daily 
lesson plans and into the curriculum.
  As a former schoolteacher myself, I know the importance of making 
sure that we are more diagnostic in our approach to teaching, that we 
are able to be more prescriptive in terms of what children's needs are, 
and ultimately that the goal of every teacher is to individualize 
instruction.
  But if we do not have the basic tools that are going to be necessary 
to compete in a global economy, then shame on us for having our heads 
in the sand and not making sure that we are making the kind of 
fundamental changes within our schools that we need to move forward. We 
cannot do that, as you pointed out on several different occasions, 
without well-trained teachers.
  We have proposed legislation, several of us here, to make sure that 
we provide tax incentives for teachers, teachers who are willing to go 
out and spend the extra money to purchase a computer on their own, a 
laptop, so they can go home and incorporate that into their daily 
lesson plans; a tuition tax credit for teachers that will go back and 
get the kind of education that they need to be technologically up to 
par with their 5th grade students; and, of course, providing incentives 
for business as well, so that they, when they buddy up with school 
systems, when they buddy up with fellow teachers, for the hours that 
they put in, they receive a particular tax credit.
  Fundamentally, it is recognizing that we need to retool our schools. 
We all know what happened in the automobile industry when we did not 
retool. We lost. We lost ground, we lost in competition, we lost market 
share.
  This is far more important than an automobile industry. This is our 
future growth. These are our future students. To compete in the global 
economy, we have to make sure that these students are well-trained. 
Every economist worth his salt has said look, when you are dealing with 
this economy, knowledge and currency, knowledge translates into 
currency, and information will provide the growth in the future.

                              {time}  1900

  We have to retool our schools. We have to retrain our students. One 
way that I believe that we can, and this is going to take time, and I 
think most of us understand that, is as we are rebuilding and 
refurbishing schools and making sure they are technologically up to 
speed, as we are retraining our teachers we need, according to 
Secretary Riley some 2 million teachers over the next 10 years, we also 
have to make sure that we make as part of this culture, part of this 
information culture, our youngest students.
  We have called for the creation of a youth technology corps to be a 
part of the arm of VISTA, to be part of AmeriCorps, to serve this 
country starting in the fifth grade, to put a civic face on technology 
but having at that very young age kids become imbued with the 
responsibility of service, service to their fellow students, helping 
them with the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic, helping 
elderly people who are shut-ins or in nursing homes send e-mails to 
their sons and daughters and their grandchildren. There is a higher 
calling here and it is one where if we integrate and take a look at 
these issues from a universal perspective, this Nation is going to be 
better served.
  I am also reminded as well, at the end, and I think it is something 
that served me well and I know many of my colleagues have talked about 
this, there is no piece of legislation, there is no technology, that 
reads to a child at night, that tucks them in, that offers them the 
kind of nurturing and help that a loving and caring parent can. Beyond 
that, there is a responsibility, fundamentally, that resides with this 
Congress. There is no State, there is no community, that has the 
wherewithal technologically to provide universal, ubiquitous service to 
all of our children. We have that responsibility. We created a national 
highway system. Surely we can create a national information 
superhighway system.
  I thank the gentleman so much for the opportunity today to speak.

              [From the Hartford Courant, Sept. 21, 1999]

               Closing the Digital Divide in Our Schools

                          (By John B. Larson)

       The nation's economy is surging to unprecedented levels. 
     The productivity of small business start-ups, driven by 
     technology and American ingenuity, is bursting with 
     entrepreneurial capital and the creation of unparalleled 
     wealth.
       Yet amid the euphoria, there is growing concern about the 
     alarming trend of limited access to the benefits of this 
     ``digital'' economy. In its July report ``Falling Through the 
     Net,'' the Department of Commerce confirmed these fears about 
     the information haves and have-nots, citing a persisting 
     ``digital divide'' between the information-rich and the 
     information-poor--a divide characterized by a disparity of 
     race, gender, wealth and geography that grows disturbingly 
     further apart.
       The great irony of this technology enterprise is that it's 
     running out of a vital fuel source: skilled workers. American 
     corporations are now in the position of asking Congress to 
     help import a work force from foreign countries.
       Congress needs to reinforce a crucial pipeline for this 
     needed fuel so that our technological enterprises can feel 
     secure in their ability to grow.
       That pipeline has been and continues to be public 
     education. Unfortunately, the pipeline is clogged because our 
     policies are floundering with piecemeal, patch-worked 
     solutions instead of a solidly constructed plan. We cannot 
     meet the demands of a digital economy with inadequate 
     infrastructure, untrained teachers, resistant universities, 
     indecisive government and a private sector that thinks 
     donating its old computers is the solution to the problem.
       Congress must recognize a fundamental need to rethink how 
     we deliver education in our classrooms. It needs to light up 
     the desktops of our students and the blackboards of their 
     teachers, and provide students with the training and skills 
     they need to be contributing members of our future work 
     force. Specifically, it needs to bring the information 
     superhighway into our schools and libraries, giving students 
     the opportunity to participate in the global economy.
       For this opportunity to be seized by Congress, it will take 
     more than a 30-second sound bite. It will require a long-term 
     plan. Congress must forge a new alliance of the nation's 
     talented technological sector and leading academic and 
     government agencies, to develop a strategic plan with 
     appropriate implementation benchmarks. The information 
     infrastructure needed for classrooms and public libraries 
     must be examined to ensure that it provides the most 
     efficient and cost-effective results. Yet, we must also 
     realize that while a high-tech education system is critical, 
     it won't work without trained professionals.
       As a parent of three and a former teacher, I understand 
     that no act of Congress ever reads to a child at night, tucks 
     him in or offers him the kind of nurturing growth that comes 
     from caring parents. Similarly, no piece of technology can 
     replace a highly trained teacher. There can be no high-tech 
     without high touch.
       According to U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley, 
     over the next 10 years, this country will need 2 million new 
     teachers. These new teachers must be digitally fluent and 
     prepared to integrate technology into their daily lesson 
     plans and curriculum. Our colleges and universities must be 
     prepared to provide this outcome, and Congress must be 
     prepared to provide incentives. These incentives would 
     include tax credits for equipment purchases, tuition credits 
     to acquire new skills and incentives for business to buddy 
     with teachers and adopt schools.
       The third component of how Congress can integrate high-tech 
     learning into our society relates to creating a civic culture 
     that will encourage young people with computer talent to 
     share their knowledge with their community. The best way to 
     make that happen will be through a youth technology corps.
       A national tech corps starting in the fifth grade and 
     continuing through high school will be of technological 
     service to peers and adults and expose young people to the 
     importance of community service, learning the important 
     lesson that serving is as important as being served.
       Congress has a responsibility to leave no one behind in the 
     digital economy. It must provide the opportunities needed to 
     help Americans attain personal and financial security in a 
     global economy. It can make this happen, or it can be 
     remembered as the Congress that squandered an unprecedented 
     educational moment.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Connecticut

[[Page H9186]]

(Mr. Larson) for his comments. He is absolutely right, and I thank him 
for his leadership in this area because we have more who feel that our 
children need not only the technology but need a place to put that 
technology, and that is where we have to make sure that we have the 
facilities to put them in and have quality education for our children. 
I thank the gentleman for his efforts.
  As we talk about the technology needs and the other needs, this year 
we will have over 53 million children who are attending public schools, 
as we talked about a few minutes ago, and too many of these children, 
as has already been stated, are stuck in trailers, in converted 
bathrooms for classes, in gyms, in hallways, and the list goes on. This 
is not conducive, and it is not what we ought to have to have a quality 
facility and certainly we cannot get technology in those kind of 
places.
  Our communities need help to get quality buildings, to upgrade them, 
to get them up to standard, and make children understand that it is 
education we are about. We really do believe in it. We do need to 
provide for them a quality facility and a quality environment. As a 
former State superintendent, I certainly know that, and I urge this 
Congress to stop playing partisan politics; to deal with our children 
first and get on and get the job done. It makes no sense.
  When we talk about programs that is fine, but the truth is, buildings 
and all of these other things, the important thing is we have good 
people in the classroom and we have good programs to deal with 
children.
  My good friend, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), has been 
working in this area his whole career here in Congress and he has 
become an excellent leader, and we have had a chance to talk on this 
floor about it. He has a couple of excellent programs that he has 
worked on.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) at 
this time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from North 
Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) for what he has done. Being the leader that he 
is, and I was sitting here and listening to him and I listened to our 
colleague, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson), I could just 
feel the passion and compassion that they all have.
  I know my other colleagues, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) 
and others who will come before us tonight, have that same kind of 
passion.
  I just want to remind the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Etheridge) of a little story, and I will be very brief, about my 
visiting a classroom and a teacher is going over the information and 
she is saying, look, we are going over the things that we tested on 
Friday. This was a Monday. And I said, why are you going over the 
matters that you tested on on Friday? The children have gotten their 
results back and everything. Why are you not moving on?
  Her response to that was that not everybody got an ``A.'' I want to 
make sure that everybody gets an ``A.''
  I think that is a fitting introduction for a program that was started 
in Baltimore just recently this past summer where we intensified our 
summer school program, and we took these 12,000 students who had not 
made the grade and put them in this program and we discovered some very 
interesting things. At the end of the summer, at least 50 percent of 
those children had gotten up to grade level. The other thing that we 
discovered is that of the schools that they came from, 19 of these 
schools, because of their overall testing rate, have come up from the 
bottom to mid-level.
  It is because of that intensity we had three factors going there. We 
had smaller classrooms because we had less children. We had good 
teachers because they picked the best teachers that had time to plan, 
time to plan, and they set very high standards. So when we think about 
that scenario that I just brought up, of all the children rising 
together and no one being left behind, this is what this was all about.
  They did a little bit more research and they discovered something 
that was very interesting. What they discovered is that although the 
children would learn pretty much at the same rate during the school 
year, when the summer came a lot of times the kids that were in the 
city and the poorer areas did not have access to books, did not have 
summer camp opportunities, and did not have various exposures that more 
affluent students might have. So what they discovered was that because 
of that summer lack of educational experience that they fell behind. 
Nobody ever talks about that.
  So we feel in Baltimore that we are moving into that right direction. 
But guess what? It takes money to do that. It takes money to do that. I 
always hear folks talk about, well, money is not what is really needed. 
Other things are needed. Goodwill is needed, and all of that.
  Yes, we do need all of those good things but we also need money. Let 
one person who has their child in private school tell me that money 
does not make a difference, tell me that it does not make a difference, 
and they will not convince me. So I just want to raise that issue.
  I want to thank the gentleman again for what he is doing. We have to 
do the things that he just talked about. We have to make sure that this 
legislation is passed and these authorizations are made and this money 
is appropriated so that no one will be left behind, and I thank the 
gentleman again.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much for his 
comments. He is absolutely correct.
  When we think about leaving no one behind, as the gentleman said, we 
have to have a quality facility. We have to have the tools to teach. 
Then we get parents engaged, and we have to have well trained people, 
and we have to let them know we are going to pay them, and we should 
encourage them to come into the profession and honor the profession and 
stop downgrading and bad-mouthing it, because people tell me they 
support it and then they come to the floor and bad-mouth teachers and 
bad-mouth schools and do not support them.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. And do not pay them.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Yes, and they understand that. We have to have the 
funds to have quality training and ongoing quality training. In the 
industry, the one thing they spend their money on is making sure their 
people are up to speed with the skills.
  The one thing we say in education that always bothered me, the first 
thing that gets cut is we call it staff development or retraining or 
whatever one wants to call it, or we say to teachers they have to have 
their skills to this point but they have to pay for it. I cannot 
imagine an industry trying that and getting away with it.
  As the gentleman knows, and I do, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Holt) has worked hard on this whole area of staff development and 
training and the issues dealing with teacher training and recruitment, 
and he has come to this Congress and he has hit the ground running very 
quickly and really become a leader in this area.
  Mr. Speaker, I would yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Holt) at this time.
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, before my colleague, the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Cummings), leaves, I would like to underscore something 
that he said. I hear from teachers all the time that they say the first 
many weeks of the school year are spent relearning what the students 
have lost over the summer; it is a time when the divide between the 
privileged and the not so privileged students grows wider. The summer 
is an important time, and I think we should develop programs of summer 
schools such as the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) described.
  I want to thank the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) 
very much for his championing education all along. We all look to him 
because of his experience as a State superintendent, and because of his 
wisdom in the area of education that really works.
  The gentleman has said it. We should be outraged. America should be 
outraged. Here we get near the end of the fiscal year, in fact today is 
the last day of the fiscal year, we have a number of appropriations 
bills not yet dealt with and we save the education bill for last. So 
education gets the scraps in the appropriations process. Inexcusable.
  The gentleman referred to the school modernization and construction 
bills. We have to resort to parliamentary

[[Page H9187]]

procedure, discharge petitions, to even get a debate on the floor. 
Inexcusable. America should be outraged.
  I would like to talk for a minute or two, if I may, about teachers 
and the support that we owe them. We ask a lot of our teachers. We ask 
a great deal of them. We should give them what they need to do the 
jobs.
  As the gentleman knows, many of today's teachers, especially in 
elementary school, say they do not feel prepared to teach science and 
math. Science and math classes are the gateway for our children to the 
opportunities of tomorrow. Twenty-eight percent of New Jersey's science 
teachers do not have a major or a minor in the subject they teach and a 
third of math teachers across the country are not licensed to teach 
math.
  We need to work on the pipeline to encourage teachers, to get science 
and math teachers to go into the field, and we need to give them the 
support once they get there. We need professional development for these 
teachers. The fact remains that it is not happening as it should.
  I just received this week a study from the American Association of 
Physics Teachers under the American Institute of Physics. It showed 
that only one half of all physics teachers around the country have 
received even one day of physics training in the past year.
  Science teachers need classroom support. Teachers talk about their 
need personally to stop at the local hardware and to fund lab 
experiments out of their own pockets. These physics teachers say that 
schools now are spending ten percent less on equipment and supplies in 
physics classes than they were a decade ago. It is a problem.
  The gentleman has talked a lot about the need to be connected. Our 
colleague the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson) has also spoken 
about this, the need to be connected to the Internet. Although 90 
percent of the schools in this country are connected to the Internet, 
only one teacher in ten has identified software to help him or her 
teach their subject in the classroom, to actually use this equipment 
educationally. If teachers feel unprepared to use the technology, then 
we are not doing right by them.
  A recent study by the Department of Education told us that only 20 
percent of teachers feel qualified to use modern technology and to 
teach using computers that are available to them; just 20 percent.
  Some of us are sponsoring a bill to provide grants for training 
teachers in how to use and integrate technology in the classroom, and I 
think all of us here this evening are supporting programs like the 
Eisenhower funds for training and education of teachers in science and 
math. We entrust our most precious resources to the teachers. We should 
equip these teachers. We owe it to the teachers, but even more we owe 
it to the children of America.
  We should treat them as professionals, these teachers.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more, and I thank the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt) for his comments. I thank him for 
his leadership because it is with that kind of leadership and that kind 
of energy we are going to make a difference, and we just have to keep 
chipping away, knocking on the door. Eventually it will get open and we 
will do the job for our teachers that will ultimately wind up enriching 
our children all across this country.
  Mr. HOLT. We must keep pushing so education is not the last thing we 
take up at the end of the fiscal year.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. It should be the first.
  As we think about this whole issue of technology and training, we 
always come back to the need for modernization of facilities in areas 
where people cannot make it; areas that are really growing so fast they 
are having a difficult time meeting it.
  I want to recognize and yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. 
Schakowsky). She came to this place and hit the ground running. She has 
been on fire for education and the people in her district and she has 
worked so hard, and I thank her for her leadership.
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate what a great 
champion my colleague from North Carolina has been for quality 
education.
  I would like to share some of my experiences. Earlier this month, I 
visited Boone school in Chicago, in a community called Rogers Park, a 
bungalow Chicago community in my district, and I witnessed firsthand 
what kind of overcrowding was happening in my neighborhoods.

                              {time}  1915

  This school has 1,100 children. It is built for 800 children. In one 
of the classrooms that I went to which was a converted teachers' 
lunchroom, really a small area, kind of a teachers' lounge, there was a 
classroom of children.
  One of the students handed me a picture that they had done. I would 
like to just show it to colleagues. This is, ``Thank you for caring 
about Boone students.'' These are Boone students, and they are all kind 
of overlapping each other. We have got Freddie under Matthew, and 
Monserrat laying over Brenda here. Rudy is yelling ``help''. We have 
got Jose over here and Mrs. Duarte kind of squished in the corner over 
there. She is the teacher.
  This was typical of what was going on. There was a classroom out in 
the hall. There were three classes in one room, three different 
languages. It was packed in there, and it was noisy because they were 
talking all different languages. Their teachers and the children were 
saying it was really hard to concentrate in a room like that.
  Walking down the hall, there was paint, I am not talking about a few 
chips, but paint pealing off the walls. They had done their best to 
rehab one of the corridors, but this one was terrible. Every morning, 
they would have to come in and sweep the floor to get the paint chips 
off. This is not because the school district, the Chicago public 
schools, have not done their best.
  I wanted to quote from the testimony of Gary Chico, president of the 
Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees when he came to Washington.
  He said,

       Since 1995, Chicago has committed close to $2 billion in 
     primarily local funding for 575 separate projects at 371 
     schools. That money has built 8 new schools and 48 additions 
     or annexes, adding 632 new classrooms to the district, which 
     serves 430 school children.
       But more needs to be done, and Chicago cannot do it alone. 
     We're doing our part, but we need partners at the Federal 
     level to meet all the needs.
       We've conservatively identified another $1.5 billion in 
     additional improvements needed before we can say that our 
     schools are truly the kinds of learning environments that we 
     know will make a difference.
       The fact is, improving the learning environment improves 
     performance. When kids are in crumbling school buildings with 
     outdated equipment, they're getting the message that 
     education isn't important.
       When they're in overcrowded classrooms or taking class in 
     hallways or basements because the classrooms are full, they 
     figure school isn't important.
       We can't afford to send that message to our children. We're 
     entering a new century. Every forward-thinking industry knows 
     they can pack up and move anywhere on earth and conduct their 
     business.
       If we want them to stay here and invest in America, we have 
     to give them a workforce that can deliver in Chicago and in 
     schools throughout the Nation.

  In Illinois, 89 percent of the schools reported a need to upgrade or 
repair their buildings, 62 percent reported at least one inadequate 
building feature. It could be a roof or plumbing or electricity or 
windows or pealing paint. Seventy percent reported at least one 
unsatisfactory environmental factor.
  So I am urging my colleagues to support the President's school 
modernization bill introduced by the distinguished gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Rangel). That bill would provide $24.8 billion in interest-
free funding over the next 2 years for school construction and 
modernization projects, allowing Illinois to issue $1.125 billion in 
bond.
  Chicago alone would be able to issue $676 million in bonds and save 
up to $333 million in interest payments. It is unacceptable to send our 
children to 19th Century schools as we go into the 21st Century. 
Investment in the children today will pay dividends to generations to 
come.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. 
Schakowsky) is absolutely correct, and I could not agree more.
  I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley), another 
colleague who has just been a real leader in this whole issue, 
education and all the areas, and we have been enriched by him coming to 
Congress.

[[Page H9188]]

  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina 
(Mr. Etheridge) for holding the special order this evening.
  There are many issues that affect my community. I could argue that I 
probably have the most diverse community in the United States, most 
ethnically diverse district in the country. This is the number one 
issue, the status of our schools in New York City.
  We are able to build roads. This Congress helps to build roads. It 
helps to build bridges. It helps to build tunnels. It helps to build 
airports. It even helps to build hospitals. But the most important 
infrastructure our country knows, our public schools, this Federal 
Government does not do enough in terms of helping build and modernize 
old schools in this country.
  The average school age in New York City is 55 years of age. One out 
of every five schools is over 75 years of age. Schools start to 
deteriorate after 30 years of age. So my colleagues can have a sense 
and idea of the state of the schools in New York City.
  I have shown pictures here on the floor of children in closets, in 
bathrooms, in hallways. It is just incredible. I want to applaud 
Reverend Jackson. Reverend Jackson went to Chicago and took inner city 
schools and took them out to the suburbs and showed them what they had. 
They were awed. But more than importantly, he took suburban children 
back into Chicago and showed them what inner city children do not have. 
It caused some of those children to come to tears. Because they think 
children are very fair minded, and they know when something unfair is 
happening. I think they recognize what was happening in Chicago.
  The same thing is happening in Queens and in the Bronx. We have a 
school, a high school in the Bronx, Truman High, that has a swimming 
pool that has not had water in it for the past 3 years. It is almost as 
bad as having no swimming pool at all, the idea that one has a swimming 
pool, but it is not being used. It is incredible, but that is what we 
are living in in New York City. Those are the circumstances. It is only 
getting worse.

  We project 30,000 students each year in New York City public school 
system. In Queens alone, we expect a 66 percent rise by the year 2007. 
We are looking at almost 60,000 more students in Queens alone. If we 
build all the schools that the city and State want to build, we are 
still going to be 20,000 seats shy. That is why we have to do something 
in this House, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the help of the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge).
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is right, and we have got 
to do it this year. I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) 
for his leadership.
  As we wind down, this evening, I think it is important to sort of 
step back for a moment and talk about why education needs to be such a 
high priority in this Congress for this country.
  In the new economy of the 21st Century, we have learned, and we know 
that what one learns will determine what one earns. The truth is the 
new economy is already here.
  I met this week with a leader to the Information Technology Industry 
Council, and he talked about this digital divide. Alan Greenspan has 
talked about it, how the economy had just boomed, and we do not really 
know what kind of impact this has. But unless we make sure that every 
child is involved in it, we have buildings to put them in, and our 
teachers are up to speed, and we give them the resources to teach and 
get them up to doing it, we are going to be in trouble.
  According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, high-tech will drive more 
than a quarter of all economic growth or has driven more since 1993. By 
the year 2006, half of the U.S. work force will be employed by 
industries that are either major producers or users of information 
technology products and services. That is why it is imperative that we 
act now, this year, not next year, and not down the road. I will not go 
into the others. I am going to enter this into the Record.
  But the jobs that pay the most money are technology jobs. My State 
tonight is facing a real challenge. Part of eastern North Carolina is 
under water, four congressional districts. Mr. Speaker, we have schools 
that have not opened. I include for the Record the Adopt a School 
Program because that is on the Internet so that those who want to help 
can, as follows:

                     NCDPI's Adopt a School Program

       Description--Many schools have been hit hard by Hurricane 
     Floyd. Some schools have lost textbooks while some have lost 
     almost everything. In order to try and meet some of these 
     needs we have organized the ``Adopt a School'' program. We 
     are encouraging school leaders, classes, PTA organizations, 
     and concerned citizens to link up with schools in need and 
     provide needed assistance throughout this year.
       How do you Adopt a School? On this page is a list of 
     schools that have expressed a desire to be adopted. Simply 
     contact the school at the phone number or address listed. 
     Find out what their needs are and how you can help. Then 
     maintain contact with them throughout the year as needs will 
     change with the passing of time.
       Some ideas once you have adopted a school:
       Contact your adopted school and find out if they have 
     immediate needs such as: tennis shoes, clothing, or other 
     essential items. Have your class or school hold a campaign to 
     collect these items.
       After the crisis has passed, there will still be a need for 
     emotional support. A class or a school could write letters of 
     support. You could even form a pen pal program between your 
     school and the adopted school.
       The idea is that you partner with this school for the rest 
     of this year to provide support in any way that you can.
       Read a description from teacher Marshall Matson of current 
     conditions in Edgecombe county in regards to schools. (9-23-
     99)
       Below is a list of schools who would like to be adopted. If 
     you wish to adopt one of them, please contact them directly 
     at the information listed. Please check back often as this 
     list will be updated regularly as soon as we are made aware 
     of schools in need.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       List of Current
    School Name--Location      Contact Information          Needs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jones Middle School--Jones    Ethan Lenker,         Please contact
 County.                       Principal, Phone:     school for up to
                               252-448-3956; Fax:    date list. The
                               252-448-1044; E-      school is taking
                               mail:                 financial
                               elenker@hotmail,      contributions. Make
                               com.                  checks payable to
                                                     Jones Middle School
                                                     Relief Fund, Jones
                                                     Middle School, 1350
                                                     Old New Bern Rd,
                                                     Trenton, NC 28585
Trenton Elementary School--   Philip Griffin,       Please contact
 Jones County.                 Principal, Phone:     school for up to
                               252-448-3441; Fax:    date list.
                               252-448-1449; E-
                               mail:
                               [email protected]
                               m.
Jones Senior High School--    Dr. James A. Buie,    Please contact
 Jones County.                 Principal, Phone:     school for up to
                               (252) 448-2451;       date list.
                               Fax: (252) 448-1034.
Princeville Montessori, Pk-   Kathy Harris,         Please contact
 3--Edgecombe County.          Resource Personnel,   school for up to
                               Phone: (252) 823-     date list.
                               4449; Fax: (252)
                               641-5741; E-mail:
                               kharris1@earthlink.
net.
Patillo Elementary, 4-5--     Kathy Harris,         Please contact
 Edgecombe County.             Resource Personnel,   school for up to
                               Phone: (252) 823-     date list.
                               4449; Fax: (252)
                               641-5741; E-mail:
                               kharris1@earthlink.
net.
Pitt County Schools.........  Arlene Ferren, Pupil  Please contact
                               Personnel Director,   school at the
                               Phone: (252) 830-     number given for an
                               4237.                 up to date listing
                                                     of schools and
                                                     needs.
Nash-Rocky Mount Schools....  Lela Chesson,         Anyone wishing to
                               Community             make donations to
                               Relations, Phone:     schools in the
                               (251) 459-5243.       system should
                                                     contact Lela at the
                                                     number listed.
Nash-Rocky Mount Schools      You may send a check  For employees of the
 Employee Disaster Fund--For   to: NRMS Disaster     system who have
 employees of the system who   Fund for Employees    losses.
 have losses.                  Community Relations
                               Office, Nash Rocky
                               Mount Schools, 930
                               Eastern Ave.,
                               Nashville, NC 27856.
Greene County Family          Cassie Faulkner       School was flooded.
 Literacy Center--an Even      Greene County         Will need new
 Start Program.                Family Literacy       carpet, books, and
                               Center, 602 West      furniture.
                               Harper Street, Snow
                               Hill, NC 28580;
                               Phone: 252-747-
                               8257; email:
                               Cassielota@hotmail.
com.
Rocky Mount Charter School..  Dr. John von Rohr,    School was located
                               Director, Phone:      in the Tarrytown
                               (252) 443-9923.       Mall which had five
                                                     feet of water.
                                                     School has lost
                                                     everything. It was
                                                     the largest public
                                                     charter school in
                                                     NC with 800
                                                     students and 70
                                                     staff.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

  My district was affected by this tremendous devastation that has 
wrecked many schools, homes, businesses, and lives; but the district of 
the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton) is one of the worst 
affected in eastern North Carolina.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. 
Clayton) who has been a leader also in education.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. 
I want to say, educationally, the

[[Page H9189]]

 gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) has certainly been a 
leader. I thank him for providing continuous leadership in education, 
not only in the State of North Carolina and this Nation, but now 
providing it here in the U.S. Congress.
  As the gentleman speaks about education, the infrastructure that 
leads to the future, many of our schools in Edgecombe County, in fact 
two of them, will not be able to be used perhaps the rest of this year 
because they have been seriously damaged by the flood.
  The infrastructure I hope that we were talking about improving our 
school under the modernization act will now need to be looked at in 
terms of FEMA providing some monies for that.
  But, Mr. Speaker, I hope that, as we have opportunity to look at 
eastern North Carolina, that we put education as one of the 
infrastructure that, not only we bring back to the status quo before 
the flood, but that we try to improve those facilities so that the 
young people in eastern North Carolina, not only can survive this 
storm, but be prepared for the 21st Century, and that they can have the 
kind of facility that allows them to prepare for that future.
  Also, the infrastructure has been greatly disadvantaged throughout 
eastern North Carolina. Some estimate that just the electricity alone 
will cost more than $80 million. The water system has not yet been 
assessed.
  So schools and other infrastructure that have been damaged by the 
storm need to be restored. But in education, we do not just need to 
restore it, we need to improve the facility.
  So the gentleman is absolutely right for the bills that he had that 
would have improved the school must go forward, not only for people in 
eastern North Carolina, but for this Nation, because we need to find a 
way where we make sure that the equal divide, the equal opportunity 
that levels the playing field for the future is actual education. So we 
have to find for the facilities for that.
  I just say educational facilities have been greatly damaged by the 
flood. Many of our schools have been damaged. But I know several of our 
schools in two counties we will not be able to restore them. I 
understand FEMA will come back and try to perhaps restore them. But 
think about the other schools that need that kind of opportunity to 
improve.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. 
Clayton) is absolutely right. As we think of this whole issue of 
digital divide she was just talking about, the information technology 
is really the largest job creating engine in the history of the world. 
To leave a group of people behind is unacceptable, unforgivable, and 
criminal when we have within our power the ability to do something 
about it.
  We can provide the facility to put it in. We can work together to 
make sure every child has access to the technology. When we think about 
currently almost 70 percent do not have access in some ways in this 
digital divide, that is unacceptable as we approach the 21st Century.
  The richest nation in the history of the world, we must do more, we 
can do more. This is inexcusable that we do not do more. I think, as a 
Congress, we have an obligation to make sure that we leave no one 
behind as we approach the 21st Century.
  We need to provide scholarship for science and math and greater 
support for technology training. Our greatest challenge is to take 
educational excellence, not just into the suburbs, but to every inner 
city, into the rural areas as well. We need to improve education for 
all children in all parts of America.
  We need to encourage our people to be more demanding of their 
government leaders so that we can get the job done. Industry needs to 
push harder. Not enough pressure is being put, in my opinion, in the 
right places to get it done.
  Finally, let me conclude by saying that this Congress still has the 
opportunity to do something great for America's future, and we need to 
do it this year.

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