Tom Harkin: “because of increasing enrollments and aging buildings, local and State expenditures for school construction have…”

“because of increasing enrollments and aging buildings, local and State expenditures for school construction have increased dramatically by 39 percent in the last several years. However, this increase has not been enough to address the needs. The National Education Association recently surveyed States about their need to modernize public schools and upgrade education technologies. According to their preliminary report, $254 billion is needed to modernize school facilities; $54 billion is needed to upgrade education technology. In my State of Iowa, for example, $3.4 billion is needed for school facilities and $540 million for education technology. It is a national disgrace that the nicest places our children see are shopping malls, sports arenas, and movie theaters, and some of the most rundown places they see are their public schools. What kind of a signal does that send about the value we place on them, their education, and their future? How can we prepare our kids for the 21st century in schools that did not even make the grade in the 20th century? This amendment by Senator Robb provides a comprehensive two-pronged response: $1.3 billion each year to make grants and no-interest loans for emergency repairs to schools. The second part of this strategy is to underwrite the cost of building nearly $25 billion of new school facilities. This amendment provides the tax credits to subsidize the interest on new construction projects to modernize public schools.”