Jay Rockefeller: “today I am reintroducing America's Better Classroom Act, an essential initiative to respond to the overwhelming needs…”

“today I am reintroducing America's Better Classroom Act, an essential initiative to respond to the overwhelming needs for school construction and renovations. I welcome the support of my colleagues, Senator Harkin, and Senator Kerry, who have been strong leaders on school construction and education policy. This bill is a wise investment in education and economic development; it creates jobs while we build and renovate our schools. The Department of Education reports that the average public school building is 42 years old. In 1995, GAO estimated that we needed $112 billion for school construction and renovations of the three-quarters of our schools that need funding to bring the buildings into good overall condition. A more recent survey in 2001 in the Journal of Education Finance indicates that the need is increasing, and the unmet need for school infrastructure over the next decade is over $200 billion. My State of West Virginia will need as much as $2 billion for school construction and renovations. Combine these statistics with the fact that there is a proven relation between the condition of school buildings and the performance of students, and it is not difficult to see that the state of our schools is entirely unacceptable. It is our responsibility to do all we can to remedy this situation. America's Better Classroom Act provides the financial tools to do this.”