Communities across the country are struggling to address critical needs to build new schools and renovate existing ones. School construction and modernization are necessary to address urgent safety and facility needs, to accommodate rising student enrollments, to help reduce class sizes, and to make sure schools are accessible to all students and well-equipped for the 21st century.

America’s Schools Are Wearing Out

In January of 1999, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released an issue brief entitled How Old Are America’s Schools? NCES reported that:

• The average public school in America is 42 years old, and school buildings begin rapid deterioration after 40 years.
  
• The oldest schools are also lagging behind other schools in the push to connect to the Internet. While almost 60 percent of schools built since 1985 were connected to the Internet by 1995, only 42 percent of schools in the oldest condition were connected to the Internet by the same year.
  

  In 1995 and 1996, the General Accounting Office (GAO) released a series of reports on the condition of American schools. [GAO Report Number HEHS-95-61 School Facilities: The Condition of America’s Schools] The GAO reports revealed:
  

• According to GAO estimates, it would cost $112 billion to bring the nation's schools into good overall condition.
• The average cost of construction for new schools is $8 million for elementary schools, and $16 million for high schools. [Council for Educational Facility Planners International, 1997]
• One-third of all public schools – about 25,000 schools – need extensive repair or replacement. In addition, about 60 percent of all schools (including some schools in generally adequate condition) report needing at least one major building feature to be replaced or extensively repaired. Over 28,000 schools have less-than-adequate heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems; over 23,000 schools have less-than-adequate plumbing; and over 21,000 schools have less-than-adequate roofs.

  Enrollments are Rising

  On August 19, 1999, the President released the Department of Education’s report entitled The Baby Boom Echo: No End in Sight. The report, which was based on NCES data, found that:

• Total public and private school enrollment will reach a record 53.2 million students this year. The 1996-97 school year was the first year that members of Baby Boom Echo broke their parents’ record for school enrollment, and they have continued to enroll in the record-breaking numbers every year since then. In fact, it is expected that enrollment will continue to increase every year.
• Unlike the end of the “baby boom” of the 1950s and 1960s, we will have no respite from the current enrollment boom, as births will begin edging up from 4.1 million in 2008 to 4.5 million in 2018. The long-term implications of this immense wave of young people going to school require educators and community leaders to recognize that short-term solutions—symbolized by the ever-present portable classrooms in countless school yards—will not be sufficient for the task at hand.
• At least 2,400 new public schools will be needed by 2003 to accommodate rising enrollments and to relieve overcrowding, and thousands more will be needed in following years. [NCES, 1999]

  School Conditions Have an Impact on Student Achievement

  A growing body of research has linked student achievement and behavior to the physical building conditions and overcrowding. [Impact of Inadequate School Facilities on Student Learning] For example:

• A study of overcrowded schools in New York City found that students in such schools scored significantly lower on both mathematics and reading exams than did similar students in underutilized schools. In addition, students and teachers in overcrowded schools agreed, when asked, that overcrowding negatively effects both classroom activities and instructional techniques. [Rivera-Batiz and Marti, 1995]
  
• A study in the District of Columbia found that students in school buildings that were in poor condition had achievement 11 percent below students in schools in excellent condition and six percent below students in schools that were in fair condition. [Edwards, 1991]
  
• Another study of high schools in rural Virginia examined the relationship between building condition and student achievement. The study found that student scores on achievement tests were up to 5 percentile points lower in buildings with lower quality ratings, after adjusting for socioeconomic status. Lower achievement was associated with specific building condition factors such as substandard science facilities, air conditioning, classroom furniture, more graffiti, and noisy external environments. [Cash, 1993]

  VIRGINIA NEEDS SCHOOL MODERNIZATION FUNDING

• Enrollment in Virginia over the last decade increased 14.8%. From 1998 to 2008 projected state enrollment in elementary and secondary schools is expected to increase by 62,000 students necessitating 2,480 additional classrooms. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data Survey and Projections of Education Statistics to 2008. Classroom calculation assumes 25 students per classroom.
• Virginia reports a $6.3 billion unmet school modernization need. Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Education 1995-96 School Facility Status Survey, July 1996.

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PRESIDENT CLINTON'S LABOR DAY COMMITMENT
TO INVEST IN SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AND MODERNIZATION
September 6, 1999

“Today too many of our schools are so old they’re falling apart, or so over-crowded students are learning in trailers. Last fall, Congress missed the opportunity to change that. This year, with 53 million children in our schools, Congress must not miss that opportunity again.”

-- President Clinton, State of the Union Address, 1999

TODAY, PRESIDENT CLINTON STRESSES THE IMPORTANCE OF INVESTING IN SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AND MODERNIZATION. Today, at Coleman Place Elementary School in Norfolk, Virginia, President Clinton renews his commitment to addressing the urgent need to invest in school construction and modernization. The President tours the school and does some volunteer work to help repair the school. The President also applauds the union workers around the country who have committed to volunteering their time to help address the urgent need to build and repair our schools. The President will highlight his School Modernization Bond proposal, which provides $24.8 billion in tax credit bonds over two years to modernize up to 6,000 schools. President Clinton’s proposal has an estimated cost of $3.7 billion over five years, and is fully paid for in his budget.

REPUBLICAN PLAN WOULD SUPPORT THE MODERNIZATION OF ONLY ABOUT ONE-TENTH AS MANY SCHOOLS AS THE PRESIDENT’S PLAN. The President's targeted tax cut would cover the interest on state and local efforts to build and modernize 6,000 public schools across the nation. The Republican alternative, part of their tax bill, is inadequate to address the urgent needs for school construction and modernization. The Republican plan provides marginal help to address the needs of only 644 schools. In fact, it could cause delays in construction and encourage risky investment of taxpayer funds. While the Republican tax bill provides little for school construction that would potentially benefit millions of children, it uses 25 times as much money to eliminate the estate tax – which is estimated to benefit 72,000 wealthy families by an average of $600,000 each in 2009.

REPUBLICAN TAX AND BUDGET PROPOSALS THREATEN EDUCATION PRIORITIES. President Clinton will stress that the Republican tax cut would spend the entire non-Social Security surplus and would lead to cuts of nearly 50 percent in domestic spending by the end of the decade (assuming defense was funded at the level requested by the President). These could lead to nearly 50 percent cuts in key initiatives to keep schools safe and drug-free, help children learn to read, reduce class size in the early grades, support after-school programs, and expand access to college. The President will urge Congress to work with him to enact a responsible budget that puts first things first, paying down the debt, strengthening and modernizing Medicare and Social Security, and investing in key priorities like education.

NATIONALLY, THERE IS AN URGENT NEED FOR SCHOOL MODERNIZATION

• One-Third of All Schools Need Extensive Repairs. One third of all public schools – about 25,000 schools – need extensive repair or replacement.
  
• Average School is 42 Years Old. The average public school in America is 42 years old, and school buildings begin rapid deterioration after 40 years.
  
• $112 Billion Needed Just for Repairs. $112 billion is needed just to repair the existing schools across the nation.
  School Enrollment Higher than Ever. On August 19th, the President released the Baby Boom Echo report on rising school enrollment. A record 53.2 million children are enrolled in elementary and secondary school today, and this number will climb to 54.3 million by 2008.