[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 24360-24361]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    AMERICA'S BETTER CLASSROOMS ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to follow my colleague the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Hinchey) in speaking about our public 
schools.
  Once again, I rise to express my deep concern over the state of the 
schools across this Nation, which are overcrowded and in disrepair. In 
these precious last few days of the 106th Congress, I call upon our 
leadership to pass comprehensive school modernization legislation.
  I strongly believe that education is a local issue, but overcrowding 
is a local problem which deserves a national response.
  Just 1 month ago, I stood here holding a letter signed by over 300 
students from Peabody Elementary School in Santa Barbara, California, 
expressing their desire for passage of school construction legislation.
  At this school, students receive a top-notch education. 
Unfortunately, the students also feel the disturbing effects of 
overcrowding. This is a school built for 200 students, but now it has 
an enrollment of over 600.
  The added portable classrooms take up precious playground space, 
which should be used so that students can take part in physical 
education and activities.
  I have visited other schools in my district which suffer from similar 
circumstances. In Santa Maria, the Oakley School's enrollment is 
currently over 800, while the school was originally built for 480 
students. The first of four lunch sessions begins at 10:30. The last 
children do not finish until well after 1:30 in the afternoon.
  In San Luis Obispo County, Cambria Grammar School was built to handle 
200 students. With eight portable buildings, they now have 345. 
Students have very limited playground space here, and their 
kindergarten needed to move to a nearby middle school because of 
overcrowding. This kindergarten is

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now housed in a portable room with a small, fenced-in playground.
  I spent over 20 years as a school nurse in the Santa Barbara school 
system. I have seen firsthand the damage that deteriorating school 
buildings can do. Students cannot thrive academically if they are 
learning in overcrowded and crumbling buildings at the most crucial 
time for learning in their lives.
  We simply must do better for our students. I strongly support the 
America's Better Classroom Act. This legislation enjoys bipartisan 
support and has 225 cosponsors. It would provide approximately $25 
billion in interest-free funds to State and local governments for 
school construction and modernization projects.
  Such funding would help schools like Peabody, Oakley, and Cambria 
Grammar School to make improvements in classrooms and playgrounds that 
would help reduce class sizes.
  When I think what our local educators are forced to deal with and the 
struggle they are engaged in to address all these problems, I am awed 
and impressed by how they pull it off each day. They all deserve our 
most heartfelt appreciation, and I applaud them for the work they do.
  I believe that Members of Congress should come to the Central Coast 
of California and see the crowded conditions that students and faculty 
must contend with on a daily basis. Then I think we could see some 
action.
  Here in Congress we must set our standards high to ensure that all 
children have a healthy and safe start. All children deserve to have 
safe, clean, modern schools to attend each day.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I join with the students of the Central Coast of 
California and I ask that we bring H.R. 4094 to the floor for a vote 
before this session of Congress comes to a close. There is no excuse 
not to debate this important bipartisan bill. The 106th Congress is 
coming to an end, but our students have a lifetime of learning ahead 
and they need our help.

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