Jack Reed: “let me continue by again commending the Senator from Illinois. It goes right to the heart of what we do materially to…”

“let me continue by again commending the Senator from Illinois. It goes right to the heart of what we do materially to aid the States and localities in the United States in providing for excellent public education and excellent education overall. The statistics that we have seen about crumbling schools in the United States is staggering. Just recently, the American Society of Civil Engineers concluded that our schools are in the worst condition of any of America's infrastructure. We know that because we go back to our States and to our communities every weekend and we see these buildings. Just yesterday I was in the Providence Street Elementary School in West Warwick, RI. The reason I went there is because this is an excellent elementary school, one of two elementary schools in Rhode Island accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. I was talking to the principal and his staff. They do wonderful things. I asked them: What is the biggest problem in this school? They said, without hesitation, the facilities. The main building of the Providence Street School was built in 1914 onto a wooden structure. But in 1969 the school department acquired a parochial school across the street. The classes are operating in both of these schools. Schoolchildren--first graders, second graders, third graders, and fourth graders--have to cross a busy thoroughfare each and every day to change classes.”