[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 24360]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



             EDUCATION AND CONDITION OF SCHOOLS NATIONWIDE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Hinchey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HINCHEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to take just a few minutes to bring 
to the attention of the Members of the House some information with 
regard to education and the condition of schools around the country, 
both in the State of New York and nationwide.
  In New York, for example, there are a total number of 4,172 schools 
currently operating in the State. The total State and local district 
school construction spending in the most recent year for which figures 
are available was $1.6 billion.
  According to the Census Bureau, New York, along with Texas and 
Florida, spends the most on the cost of school construction. However, 
despite being among the top three spenders for school construction, the 
poor condition of too many New York schools sends a clear signal that 
State and local funding is simply not enough to meet modernization 
needs.
  In New York, as is true in many places around the country, the local 
school districts rely on the local real property tax to pay for the 
cost of education, including construction and modernization of our 
schools.
  Ninety percent of the schools report a need to upgrade or repair 
buildings in order to bring them up to a good overall condition. In 
other words, 90 percent are less than good. Sixty-seven percent report 
at least one inadequate building feature such as the roof, plumbing, 
electricity. Seventy-six percent report at least one unsatisfactory 
environmental factor such as air quality, ventilation, or lighting. 
There are computers in the schools, but there is only one computer for 
every 16 students, 16 students trying to use each computer.
  In 1998 and 1999, New York paid $618 million in interest on school 
debt. Again, this money comes out of the local real property tax. 
Sadly, these statistics reflect the condition of school buildings in 
almost every place around the country.
  Two years ago, I conducted a school modernization study in the 
district that I represent, which is a largely rural district in upstate 
central New York. It has five small cities, but the rest of the 
district is largely rural. In addition to finding similar results as 
those I have just mentioned, I discovered also that nearly one-third of 
the schools in the New York State district that I represent were built 
before 1940. More than one-third of the schools surveyed reported being 
cited for fire code violations at some point within the previous year. 
Over half the respondents said that overcrowding in their classrooms 
was a serious problem.
  This is costing us. It is costing us in the education of our children 
and the ability of those children to perform in the future, and it is 
going to cost our economy unless we face up to this problem.
  The Democrats in this House, along with President Clinton and Vice 
President Gore, believe very strongly that in order to get our schools 
into the condition that they should be in the Federal Government needs 
to help local school districts afford to repair and modernize our 
schools.
  We have a bipartisan bill. It is sponsored by Republicans as well as 
Democrats. It would provide $22 billion in public bonding authority to 
help rebuild and repair over 5,000 public schools. This bill would 
bring $2.5 billion to New York State alone for school construction and 
modernization.
  The bill is popular in this House. It has 228 sponsors, including a 
number of Republicans as well as Democrats. And yet, the Republican 
leadership has thus far refused to allow for any consideration, any 
reasonable debate or a hearing on the floor of the House.
  According to the General Accounting Office, a record 52.7 million 
children are enrolled currently in elementary and secondary schools 
across the country. That number is expected to climb to 54.3 children 
within less than 8 years. Thousands of new public schools will be 
needed within the next few years to accommodate rising enrollments.
  We cannot expect States and local school districts, relying as they 
do on local real property taxes, to shoulder this financial burden. We 
ought to bring this bill to the floor of the House. We ought to give it 
careful and thoughtful consideration. We ought to give the Members of 
this House an opportunity to debate and vote on the bill.
  The 228 sponsors believe that if that happens the bill will pass and 
we will provide the relief that is necessary for school districts and 
the children and the families they serve across the country.
  I hope that before we leave here this bill will come to the floor and 
we will give it the consideration that it needs. The future of our 
country and specifically the future of our children and communities all 
across America depend upon modernizing our schools, providing these 
school construction funds.

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