A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

I am pleased to join Congressman Rangel and Congresswoman Johnson for the introduction of this important piece of bipartisan legislation. The administration fully supports this new proposal. I urge all pro-education members of Congress to become active co-sponsors and make the passage of this legislation a high priority in this session of Congress.

We have millions of school children who are going to school in buildings that are overcrowded and wearing out. As a society we have an obligation to give these children a free and public education of high quality. School buildings that are safe, healthy and up-to-date when it comes to modern technology represent, to my way of thinking, what we mean when we talk about a quality education.

The passage of this proposed legislation is long overdue. The children of the Baby Boom Echo have been filling up America's schools for years and there is no end in sight when it comes to rising enrollment. I cannot emphasize this enough.

At the same time, we know that one of the best ways to give our children a quality education is to reduce class size especially in the early grades.

I have been the secretary of Education for over seven years now and I have visited hundreds of schools every year. I can tell you that there are school districts all over this great country that are eager for this type of financial support. I have been to schools with leaky roofs. I have been to schools that are just row after row of portables.

And I have been to schools where the basic infrastructure is so old that they cannot install modern technology. We cannot hope to overcome the growing digital divide if we cannot get the technology into our nation's poorest schools.

This is why this proposed legislation is so needed, and why this administration is also proposing a new $1.3 billion initiative to renovate and repair thousands of school buildings that are in urgent need of repair.

I believe the legislation that Congressman Rangel and Congresswoman Johnson have come together on is good for America in many ways.

If this legislation becomes law it can help to reduce the property tax burden on senior citizens and create new support for the passage of critically needed school bond issues. And every realtor in America will tell you that a new and modern school with good teachers is an asset to every community.

Now some people are going to say that modernizing our nation's schools is not something that the federal government should be doing. I think they are just behind the times and need to expand their sense of vision.

When this nation needed to create the land grant system of colleges in the 1860s the federal government provided the impetus. When we had to build our modern highway system in the 1950s the federal government showed the way. Those were unique times and the federal government responded to the national challenge.

I believe we are in a similar time here at the beginning of this new century. This is no time to get caught up in a philosophical debate about federalism, and that is especially true given the limited federal role as proposed in this legislation. This is why this piece of legislation will get the full support of the American people.

Let me make one final point.

We have a unique opportunity to support the construction of thousands of new schools that can truly act as centers of community for entire communities--schools that are open later, longer, for more people, and for people of all ages.

We need to be building schools that have parent centers and space for after-school programs that help keep children out of harm's way. We need to be involving citizens in the design of new schools and build schools that act as community learning centers for everybody. All this is possible if we can give many more communities the financial help they need to build new schools.

This is why this bipartisan legislation deserves the support of the Congress this year.

Thank you.