[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 44 (Thursday, April 18, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2910-S2911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       LEAVE NO CHILD BEHIND ACT

  Mrs. CARNAHAN. Mr. President, last year, Democrats and Republicans 
joined together with President Bush to enact a monumental and far-
reaching education bill.
  This new law, the Leave No Child Behind Act, will bring new resources 
and meaningful reform to our Nation's schools.
  It establishes new academic standards for students, increases teacher 
training, and demands new levels of accountability, while increasing 
flexibility with Federal funds at the State and local level.
  I am hopeful that this law will help close the achievement gaps that 
separate many poor and minority students from their peers.
  Indeed, I am optimistic that it will improve education for all 
students.
  But Congress has, as Harry Truman once said, some ``unfinished 
business' when it comes to our schools.
  We have left out a critical component when it comes to ensuring that 
our schools and our teachers and, most importantly, our students will 
succeed.
  Today, one in five schools fails to meet building or safety codes or 
needs extensive repairs, renovations, and maintenance.
  Across the country, run-down, overcrowded, dilapidated schools 
jeopardize the health and safety of our students.
  Across the country, deteriorating schools inhibit the ability of our 
children to learn.
  And yet, with the exception of the Impact Aid program, which I 
strongly support, the new education reform law did not include funds 
for school renovation and repair.
  Nor were any funds for renovation and repair made available through 
the appropriations process.
  The administration's most recent budget even eliminates the Emergency 
School Repair Program.
  And yet, data from the National Center for Education Statistics tells 
us that nearly $127 billion in renovations and repairs are needed to 
upgrade existing schools to good physical condition.
  Furthermore, this figure does not include the funding needed for 
construction to accommodate increasing enrollments in districts across 
the country.
  We have these pressing needs at a time when resources are scarce. Our 
States and local governments are still feeling the effects of the 
recession.
  And for too many years, Congress has failed to provide States and 
localities the funding it promised long ago to share the cost of 
special education.
  The Federal Government cannot ask States and localities to shoulder 
the burden of school renovation and repair costs alone.
  If the Federal Government stands on the sidelines, it will be at the 
expense of our children.
  But neither should Washington attempt to single-handedly solve this 
problem. Congress should not be in the business of giving direct grants 
to communities to build schools.
  I strongly believe that education is a national priority but a local 
responsibility.
  The legislation being introduced today, the ``Investing for 
Tomorrow's

[[Page S2911]]

Schools Act,'' answers this call for partnership.
  Our bill provides initial funding for the creation of State and 
regional infrastructure banks. These banks will make loans to districts 
for school construction or modernization needs.
  This mechanism helps to alleviate the financial burden for States and 
localities but provides sufficient flexibility to meet local needs.
  The structure of the bill ensures that states and localities have the 
requisite flexibility to tailor programs to meet their unique needs.
  The bill requires a 25 percent State match, which ensures the 
commitment of State government to the program while allowing States to 
leverage their dollars four-to-one.
  It is a voluntary program--only for those states who choose to 
participate.
  To those who have argued that the Federal Government should have no 
role in school facilities, and likewise to those who call for overly 
intrusive Federal programs, this bill offers a common-sense compromise.
  I remember visiting a school in Nixa, MO, where every fourth-grader 
in the district attends class in trailers behind the school.
  I have subsequently learned from teachers and administrators in other 
districts that the kids in trailers often have the best deal because 
conditions in the actual school buildings are often far worse than they 
are in the trailers.
  Every State in this country has districts in need, in both urban and 
rural and suburban communities. The needs span the social economic 
strata of our Nation.
  Disadvantaged and minority students are most likely to attend school 
in decrepit and obsolete buildings.
  I would imagine that we have all seen schools that are either 
freezing cold or unbearably hot, that have poor lighting or inadequate 
bathroom facilities.
  But students in more affluent suburbs--where there is often explosive 
growth in the community--also suffer from overcrowding.
  Most parents would agree that they would like their children to 
attend schools where the student to teacher ratio is low, where class 
size is small.
  Yet, without enough space, small class size is an impossibility.
  And despite these conditions, we are asking our children for more 
than ever before.
  A fellow Missourian, Mark Twain, once told the following story:

       When I was a boy on the Mississippi River there was a 
     proposition in a township there to discontinue public schools 
     because they were too expensive. An old farmer spoke up and 
     said, ``If they stopped building the schools they would not 
     save anything, because every time a school was closed a jail 
     had to be built.''

  I have great faith in America's children. The time to invest in them 
is now. The investments we make in them will be returned to us many 
times over.

                          ____________________