[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 131 (Friday, October 1, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2009]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           H.R. 415: EXPAND AND REBUILD AMERICA'S SCHOOLS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LORETTA SANCHEZ

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 1, 1999

  Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to one of 
the most pressing difficulties facing our schools: overcrowded and run-
down facilities.
  Last month, 53.2 million young people went back to school. The 
facilities that greeted them were not up to par. One-third of all 
public schools are in serious need of repair or replacement, and 
nowhere is that problem more obvious than my home district in Orange 
County, California.
  Our schools are simply run down and out of room, and California is 
feeling the crunch. Facilities are so crowded in our state that we 
would have to spend $4 billion by 2002 in order to provide enough 
space. In fact, high school enrollment is projected to grow by a full 
one-third between 1998 and 2008.
  Right now our children attend schools with leaking roofs, dangerous 
wiring and chipping paint, crammed into storage closets, libraries and 
gyms for lack of classroom space. By neglecting to provide an 
environment appropriate for learning and teaching, we are sending our 
youth a message that their academic success is unimportant to us. This 
tragically shortchanges our students.
  That's why I have introduced H.R. 415, the Expand and Rebuild 
America's Schools Act.
  H.R. 415 will help local education agencies (LEAs) with limited 
financial resources by creating a new class of tax-exempt bonds, 
interest-free for LEAs. A financial institution that issues these bonds 
would receive a tax credit in the amount of the interest that would 
otherwise be paid by the LEA. So the school district only has to repay 
the principal, no interest. The Secretary of Education will be 
responsible for direct distribution of the bond program to the LEAs, 
avoiding any state bureaucracy involvement in funding decisions or 
program administration.
  To be eligible to participate in the school construction bond 
program, LEAs must: (1) have at least 35 percent of students eligible 
for the free or reduced-cost lunch program; (2) be involved in a 
public/private partnership with a local private enterprise, to provide 
an amount equal to at least 10 percent of the interest-free capital 
provided; (3) maintain high educational standards; (4) have a projected 
growth rate at or above 10 percent over the next five years; (5) have a 
student-teacher ratio of 30 to 1 or higher; and (6) have already made 
an attempt to alleviate overcrowding.
  These qualifying factors will ensure the bond program assists the 
most impacted, high-quality schools. Simultaneously, it will encourage 
schools to seek out private contributions to improve curriculum and 
equipment, enhancing the impact of the bond initiative. H.R. 415 will 
provide our children with an environment that is more conducive to 
learning, and prevent this facilities crisis from continuing into the 
next century.

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