Grace Napolitano: “I would like to certainly call upon all my colleagues to join us in bringing the issue of school construction and…”

“I would like to certainly call upon all my colleagues to join us in bringing the issue of school construction and modernization up for debate this year. In my home State of California, we are facing a very critical and potential crisis in providing adequate school facilities for our children. With the number of students increasing in grades K through 12 by about 270,000 during the next 5 years, California will need 10,000, 10,000, new classrooms. That is six new classrooms each day for the next 5 years. In addition to building new classrooms, more than two-thirds of existing school buildings are in desperate need of repair. State and local resources are currently only covering half of these construction costs and modernization needs. We, therefore, all of us, owe it to our children from throughout the United States to address this issue right here in Washington. The children of my State who are the future of California and the children of other States are depending on us to take action to build and renovate our schools.”