President Clinton will be joined by Democratic leaders, parents, children, teachers and educators, labor representatives, and other members of a national grassroots coalition to build and repair our public schools. He will speak against the backdrop of a model schoolhouse that will be built today on the South Lawn of the White House, symbolizing our nation s commitment to quality education and the need for Congress to act on President Clinton s education initiatives.
All students deserve a safe, healthy, and modern place to learn.
President Clinton will urge the congressional leadership to pass school construction legislation this year. The bonds would help build and modernize 6,000 schools nationwide. Districts could use these 15-year bonds to modernize existing schools as well as build new ones. Bond owners would receive federal tax credits rather than interest payments from school districts, allowing districts to borrow interest-free for school construction. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Reps. Charles Rangel and Nancy Johnson s legislation has been co-sponsored by a bipartisan majority of the House, but the Republican leadership has refused to bring it to a vote.