Political Quotes

“Mr. President, as you and others in this Chamber and millions of Americans know, we are facing a near crisis in terms of the construction of public school facilities. Too many communities in America have schools which are crumbling because of age and inattention. Other communities have dramatically oversized classrooms because they do not have the financing to build enough new schools to meet their exploding student population. There is no simple answer to this issue. The General Accounting Office recently estimated that it would cost about $112 billion to repair our schools sufficiently to bring them into good condition. Additionally, although there is no single authoritative source of information on the need for new school construction, that cost is also estimated in the range of $110 billion to $120. It is clear to me, and to others who have looked at this issue, that we need to look for opportunities to provide flexibility to school districts in responding to this massive need for school construction and repair.”