109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6028
To amend 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
September 6, 2006
Mr. OWENS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To amend 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. GRANTS FOR SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
`TITLE X--SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION, MODERNIZATION, AND INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT
`SEC. 10001. FINDINGS.
`The Congress finds the following:
`(1) There are 48,400,000 students in 95,726 elementary and secondary
public 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 less than 25 cents. An
appropriation of $22,000,000,000 would result in a Federal expenditure
for education infrastructure of $454 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.
`SEC. 10002. 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. 10003. 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
10006 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;
`(D) whether the facility is eligible to receive education technology
assistance from the National Education Technology Funding Corporation
under section 708 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law
104-104; 110 Stat. 157); and
`(E) the needs related to preparation for modern technology.
`(3) CHARTER SCHOOLS- In approving projects for funding under this title,
the State educational agency shall ensure that a public charter school
that constitutes a local educational agency under State law is eligible
for assistance under the same terms and conditions as any other local
educational agency.
`(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. 10004. 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 title--
`(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 fully credited to the educational institution undertaking the construction.
`SEC. 10005. 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. 10006. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
`There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this title, $10,000,000,000
for fiscal year 2007 and a sum no less than this amount for each of the
4 succeeding fiscal years.'.
END
