HR 1820 IH
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1820
To amend title XII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 to provide grants to improve the infrastructure of elementary and secondary
schools.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 14, 1999
Mr. OWENS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To amend title XII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 to provide grants to improve the infrastructure of elementary and secondary
schools.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. REVISION OF TITLE XII.
Title XII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
8501 et seq.) is amended to read as follows:
`SEC. 12001. FINDINGS.
`The Congress finds the following:
`(1) There are 52,700,000 students in 88,223 elementary and secondary
schools across the United States. The current Federal expenditure for
education infrastructure is $12,000,000. The Federal expenditure per
enrolled student for education infrastructure is 23 cents. An appropriation
of $22,000,000,000 would result in a Federal expenditure for education
infrastructure of $417 per student per fiscal year.
`(2) The General Accounting Office in 1995 reported that the Nation's
elementary and secondary schools need approximately $112,000,000,000 to
repair or upgrade facilities. Increased enrollments and continued building
decay has raised this need to an estimated $200,000,000,000. Local education
agencies, particularly those in central cities or those with high minority
populations, cannot obtain adequate financial resources to complete
necessary repairs or construction. These local education agencies face an
annual struggle to meet their operating budgets.
`(3) According to a 1991 survey conducted by the American Association of
School Administrators, 74 percent of all public school buildings need to be
replaced. Almost one-third of such buildings were built prior to World War
II.
`(4) The majority of the schools in unsatisfactory condition are
concentrated in central cities and serve large populations of poor or
minority students.
`(5) In the large cities of America, numerous schools still have
polluting coal burning furnaces. Decaying buildings threaten the health,
safety, and learning opportunities of students. A growing body of research
has linked student achievement and behavior to the physical building
conditions and overcrowding. Asthma and other respiratory illnesses exist in
above average rates in areas of coal burning pollution.
`(6) According to a study conducted by the General Accounting Office in
1995, most schools are unprepared in critical areas for the 21st century.
Most schools do not fully use modern technology and lack access to the
information superhighway. Schools in central cities and schools with
minority populations above 50 percent are more likely to fall short of
adequate technology elements and have a greater number of unsatisfactory
environmental conditions than other schools.
`(7) School facilities such as libraries and science laboratories are
inadequate in old buildings and have outdated equipment. Frequently, in
overcrowded schools, these same facilities are utilized as classrooms for an
expanding school population.
`(8) Overcrowded classrooms have a dire impact on learning. Students in
overcrowded schools score lower on both mathematics and reading exams than
do students in schools with adequate space. In addition, overcrowding in
schools negatively affects both classroom activities and instructional
techniques. Overcrowding also disrupts normal operating procedures, such as
lunch periods beginning as early as 10 a.m. and extending into the
afternoon; teachers being unable to use a single room for an entire day; too
few lockers for students, and jammed hallways and restrooms which encourage
disorder and rowdy behavior.
`(9) School modernization for information technology is an absolute
necessity for education for a coming CyberCivilization. The General
Accounting Office has reported that many schools are not using modern
technology and many students do not have access to facilities that can
support education into the 21st century. It is imperative that we now view
computer literacy as basic as reading, writing, and arithmetic.
`(10) Both the national economy and national security require an
investment in school construction. Students educated in modern, safe, and
well-equipped schools will contribute to the continued strength of the
American economy and will ensure that our Armed Forces are the best trained
and best prepared in the world. The shortage of qualified information
technology workers continues to escalate and presently many foreign workers
are being recruited to staff jobs in America. Military manpower shortages of
personnel capable of operating high tech equipment are already acute in the
Navy and increasing in other branches of the Armed Forces.
`SEC. 12002. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this title is to provide Federal funds to enable local
educational agencies to finance the costs associated with the construction,
repair, and modernization for information technology of school facilities
within their jurisdictions.
`SEC. 12003. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE IN THE FORM OF GRANTS.
`(a) AUTHORITY AND CONDITIONS FOR GRANTS-
`(1) IN GENERAL- To assist in the construction, reconstruction,
renovation, or modernization for information technology of elementary and
secondary schools, the Secretary shall make grants of funds to State
educational agencies for the construction, reconstruction, or renovation, or
for modernization for information technology, of such schools.
`(2) FORMULA FOR ALLOCATION- From the amount appropriated under section
12006 for any fiscal year, the Secretary shall allocate to each State an
amount that bears the same ratio to such appropriated amount as the number
of school-age children in such State bears to the total number of school-age
children in all the States. The Secretary shall determine the number of
school-age children on the basis of the most recent satisfactory data
available to the Secretary.
`(b) CONDITIONS FOR RECEIPT OF GRANTS-
`(1) APPLICATIONS- In order to receive a grant under this title, a State
shall submit to the Secretary an application containing or accompanied by
such information and assurances as the Secretary may require. Such
applications shall specify the method by which the State educational agency
will allocate funds to local educational agencies and the procedures by
which projects will be selected for funding. Such applications shall contain
assurances that such funds will only be provided if the State educational
agency finds that such constructions will be undertaken in an economical
manner, and that any such construction, reconstruction, renovation, or
modernization is not or will not be of elaborate or extravagant design or
materials.
`(2) PRIORITIES- In approving projects for funding under this title, the
State educational agency shall consider--
`(A) the threat the condition of the physical plant poses to the
safety and well-being of students;
`(B) the demonstrated need for the construction, reconstruction,
renovation, or modernization as based on the condition of the
facility;
`(C) the age of the facility to be renovated or replaced; and
`(D) the needs related to preparation for modern technology.
`(c) AMOUNT AND CONDITION OF GRANTS- A grant to a local educational agency
may be in an amount not exceeding the total cost of the facility construction,
reconstruction, renovation, or modernization for information technology, as
determined by the State educational agency.
`SEC. 12004. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
`The Secretary shall take such action as may be necessary to ensure that
all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors or subcontractors on any
project assisted under this part--
`(1) shall be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on the
same type of work on similar construction in the immediate locality as
determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the Act of March 31,
1931 (Davis-Bacon Act), as amended; and
`(2) shall be employed not more than 40 hours in any 1 week unless the
employee receives wages for the employee's employment in excess of the hours
specified in paragraph (1) at a rate not less than one and one-half times
the regular rate at which the employee is employed;
but the Secretary may waive the application of this subsection in cases or
classes or cases where laborers or mechanics, not otherwise employed at any
time in the construction of such project, voluntarily donate their services
without full compensation for the purpose of lowering the costs of
construction and the Secretary determines that any amounts saved thereby are
full credited to the educational institution undertaking the construction.
`SEC. 12005. DEFINITIONS.
`(1) SCHOOL- The term `school' means structures suitable for use as
classrooms, laboratories, libraries, and related facilities, the primary
purpose of which is the instruction of elementary and secondary school
students.
`(2) STATE- The term State includes the several States of the United
States and the District of Columbia.
`SEC. 12006. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
`There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this title,
$22,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and a sum no less than this amount for
each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.'.
END