[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 4882]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SUPPORT FOR IMPACT AID

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                         HON. MARK STEVEN KIRK

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 26, 2003

  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, as we prepare to go to war, I want to 
reiterate the importance of supporting our military families through 
the Impact Aid program. This program is vital to the education of 
millions of children across the nation.
  Impact Aid was created in 1950 when Congress recognized the 
obligation of the Federal Government to assist school districts and 
communities that experience a loss in their local property tax base due 
to the presence of the Federal government. Between 1950 and 1969, the 
Impact Aid Program was fully funded by Congress. Since that time the 
funding level has not kept pace with the amount required to cover the 
Federal Government's tax obligation. In Fiscal Year 2001, the program 
will pay approximately 46 percent of the total amount required to cover 
the cost of the two formula driven sections of the Impact Aid Program-
Section 8002 (Federal Property) and 8003 (Federally Connected 
Children).
  The result of this shortfall is that the education of our military 
children and other federally dependant students is suffering. Over 90 
percent of funding for education comes from local funds such as 
property taxes. But what happens if that property is owned by the 
federal government and is off the tax rolls? Kids report to class with 
no property tax dollars needed for their school.
  In the average $10 million American school district, $9.3 million are 
raised from state and local taxes. This system works well when the 
children attending the local school live on property subject to local 
tax.
  This system does not work well when the federal government houses 
many children on land not subject to tax--such as a military base or 
Indian reservation. In these schools, the children report to class 
without financial backing--too many of these kids and the school 
district can go bankrupt.
  Impact Aid is critically important because it benefits all children 
within a school district, not only the children who reside on military 
bases, Indian lands or Federal Low Rent housing projects. In the United 
States, 1,397 school districts receive Impact Aid funding. Enrollment 
in these schools total 13.08 million students of which 1.19 million are 
federally impacted. This is a compelling detail, because without Impact 
Aid all children in these federally impacted school districts suffer.
  In my district, 36 percent of all students attending North Chicago's 
School District 187 are Impact Aid children. School District 187 spends 
an average of $6,500 per pupil on education, and herein lies the 
problem. The North Chicago school district receives only $3,250 per 
pupil from the federal government for their Impact Aid children. With 
over 1,400 Impact Aid students, District 187 finds itself over $4.5 
million short in funding levels. This short fall creates a huge strain 
on the school district overall, decreasing the quality of education for 
every child in District 187.
  While school administrators and teachers across the country 
appreciate Impact Aid payments, they are usually late and fail to cover 
the cost of all children attending school. For example, Highland Park's 
North Shore School District 112 spends approximately $11,000 a year to 
educate a student. The Impact Aid program provides just $500 per child. 
Local taxpayers living on civilian property must then pay the extra 
$10,500 per year to educate that child. At this rate, many Impact Aid 
children entering a school can bankrupt an entire school district.
  This nearly happened in North Chicago's School District 187. This 
community is home to Great Lakes Naval Training Center where 50,000 
naval recruits are trained annually. Hundreds of children from military 
housing came into the local school district each year. Several years 
ago, District 187 nearly went bankrupt under the weight of children 
coming to school from property that cannot be taxed. Impact Aid 
payments had been late and inadequate. Thanks to the work of my 
predecessor, Congressman John Porter, this school system was saved 
through additional appropriations.
  The quickest way to take a soldier or sailor's mind off their 
mission, is to have them worrying about their children's education. 
Kids from military families come from some of the hardest working, most 
patriotic families, but the schools they attend sometimes face 
bankruptcy. This is because of the way we fund our nation's schools. 
Impact Aid honors our commitment to military families, and especially 
Native American Indians. It guarantees that those families who serve to 
protect our freedom are in turn protected by the federal government.
  Our constitution commands that the first job of the federal 
government is to ``provide for the common defense.'' As we improve the 
pay and benefits of men and women in uniform, we must also support 
their kids and the local schools they attend. This may take many years 
to accomplish but the time is now to support schools that educate the 
children whose parents wear our nation's uniform.

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