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The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. SIMPSON). Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 6, 1999, the gentleman from New York (Mr. CROWLEY) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I am not so sure I will use all the 60 minutes but we will give it our best.
Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to discuss the issue of school modernization and construction. I have led the freshman class in fighting for school construction. This past winter we hosted a series of one minutes and a special order like this evening for freshmen to talk about the conditions of our schools in our districts.
Recently, I hosted an education roundtable in my district on this very topic, with our very special guest assistant secretary for education Scott Fleming, and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. LOWEY) to whom I am very grateful for her work in the area of school construction and modernization.
I intend to continue my fight to bring school construction legislation to this floor this year, Mr. Speaker.
Last week, the freshman class sent a letter to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. HASTERT) asking for school construction to be brought up this year. We had Secretary Riley endorsing our request. We had the Democratic leadership and many members of the education community on our side. We are asking for a broad bipartisan support this evening for school modernization and construction.
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Our schools need our help. We need an effective and comprehensive school modernization package that is a Federal, State, and local partnership--a Federal, State and local partnership.
Schools, as part of our Nation's infrastructure, are in desperate need of repair and modernization. If these were our Nation's highways that I was talking about, we probably would not be having this discussion this evening. Well, Mr. Speaker, our schools are our educational highways.
Let me just give my colleagues some examples of some of the problems I am experiencing in my district, and I am sure many of my colleagues around the country are experiencing similar difficulties. Enrollment in the County of Queens in New York City is increasing by 30,000, 30,000 enrollments every 5 years. In 1999, the enrollment is 270,850 students. In the year 2004, that number will rise to 300,000. By year 2007, it is estimated that Queens County will have over 330,000 new students.
In the 7th Congressional District, I represent the most overcrowded school district in the City of New York. School District 24 is operating at over 119 percent of capacity. I have three of the top 10 most overcrowded school districts in the City of New York, District 24, District 30, and District 11 in the Bronx operating at 119, 109 and 107 percent respectively.
By 2007, three of the five most overcrowded schools and school districts will be in the 7th Congressional District, my district. Nearly every school
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But the average age of a school in New York City is 55 years of age. One out of every five schools in the City of New York is over 75 years of age. Now, when they built these schools back in the 1920s and 1930s, they were built to last; and that is why we have them today. But any school with any normal wear and tear would have to begin to show that wear and tear at least maybe 20 to 30 years after being built.
But our students are going to schools that were built 55 and 75 and some even 100 years ago in the City of New York. They are simply falling apart. These schools need new heating systems to replace unsafe older models. Structural repairs are needed, such as retaining walls, windows, and outside black top, and inside modernization repair such as lights and toilet fixtures.
Let me just add a little point here. That is in schools that maybe 55 to 75 years of age. Some schools will put on additions. Some schools have temporary classrooms, and that space is taking up the space where there once was a school yard where children would have the opportunity to play in recess or to gather before and after school.
The school where I attended kindergarten is PS 229 in Woodside, Queens. Woodside, Queens right now has no playground. Where I played hockey and basketball and grew up, that playground no longer exists. What has taken its place is modular classrooms and now a brand-new wing. It is only my hope that, when the brand-new wing is completed, that they will have a small portion of that playground to be restored to the children so they can use it for recreational purposes.
We need to assist local education agencies, those who know best, whether they need construction, modernization, or technical upgrades. So those who say that the Federal Government should not be in brick and mortars, fine. I think we ought to be involved in brick and mortars. But fine. Let us let the State and local governments handle that. We certainly could be there to help them with financing.
It is interest-free bonds, which will provide the flexibility and cost-effective approach to assist our crumbling schools. Mr. Speaker, I support the Public School Modernization Act of the gentleman from New York (Mr. RANGEL) and the School Construction Act of the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. ETHERIDGE). Both these acts will drive millions of dollars to New York State and to my congressional district.
The Public School Modernization Act will provide $22 billion over 2 years in zero interest school modernization bonds. These bills would give 50 percent of the bonds to the 100 school districts with the largest number of low-income students and would give the remaining 50 percent directly to the States.
The Rangel bill would extend Davis-Bacon provisions, which would require payment of prevailing wage rates on all Federal construction projects, to projects funded through school modernization bond tax credits. I would say this bill would bring over $2.8 billion in funds to the State of New York and to the City of New York.
The School Construction bill of the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. ETHERIDGE) will provide $7.2 billion nationally in school construction bonds to States suffering from rapid school-age population growth and provide the funds needed by States and cities experiencing high rates of growth in suburban and urban school districts. This will bring $540 million in school construction assistance to the State of New York.
I have been talking about New York State, but obviously the numbers we are talking about here extend across this great land in other areas that are experiencing high growth, and other school districts of high levels of impoverished children would also receive a great share of the assistance provided through school modernization bonds.
Both of these bills will help reduce the heavy burden on our local property taxpayers by offering school districts tax-free bonds.
Let me just give my colleagues a couple of national facts. One-third of the Nation's schools were built before World War II and are still in operation. One-third were built before World War II. There is currently a $112 billion backlog in school construction and modernization needs, $112 billion. Sixty percent of our Nation's schools have at least one major building feature in need of extensive repair. Think about that, 60 percent of our schools in this Nation have at least one major building feature in need of extensive repair.
Fifty-eight percent of the Nation's schools have at least one unsatisfactory environmental condition such as poor ventilation or poor heating. In fact, in some schools in Queens County and in my district and in the City of New York, they are still burning coal, still burning coal. We are going into the 21st Century still burning coal. Amazing.
In my home district and in many of our schools, we are heading into the 21st Century, and we are facing an enormous lack of seats. If we do nothing, if we do not help our local government, Queens County will be facing between 20,000 and 60,000 seats that they will be shy by the year 2007, between 20,000 and 60,000 seats shy.
The City of New York and the State of New York are doing all they can to provide funds for school construction and modernization, making schools and classrooms ready for the 21st Century, providing computers, providing access to the Internet, providing cable-ready classrooms. They simply cannot keep up with the pace.
Ellis Island no longer exists in terms of welcoming new immigrants to this great country. What has taken its place is Queens County. My borough has seen a tremendous growth in the past few years, and that is going to
continue to take plates in the coming century. In fact, while most of the rest of the city and the other boroughs will be seeing a decline in student growth population, Queens County will be seeing a massive, massive growth. Much of that is due to the baby boom era. Due to the baby boom echo, school enrollment has now reached an all-time record high of 52.7 million in this Nation.
To meet rising school enrollments, 6,000 new schools will be needed to be built over the next 10 years in order to meet that challenge. I ask my colleagues, if this is not crisis, what is? If this issue does not ring with them, what will?
I urge Speaker HASTERT to bring school construction legislation such as the bills of the gentleman from New York (Mr. RANGEL) or the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. ETHERIDGE) to the floor for debate as soon as possible.
As we ready ourselves for the 21st Century, we have to ask ourselves, have we done all we can do to prepare our students for the next millennium. In fact, not the next millennium, the next century? In fact, have we done all we can do, not for the next century, but for the next decade? Are we really doing all we can do to help prepare our students just for the next decade?
Our schools can no longer wait for that answer. Mr. Speaker, we must act today.
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