I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 599
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 
FEBRUARY 5, 2003
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 Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. GRANTS FOR SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE IM-
PROVEMENT. 
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 INFRASTRUC-
TURE IMPROVEMENT 
‘‘SEC. 10001. FINDINGS. 
‘‘The Congress finds the following: 
‘‘(1) There are 52,700,000 students in 88,223 
elementary and secondary schools across the United 
States. The current Federal expenditure for edu-
cation infrastructure is $12,000,000. The Federal 
expenditure per enrolled student for education infra-
structure 
is 
cents. 
An 
appropriation 
of 
$22,000,000,000 would result in a Federal expendi-
ture for education infrastructure of $417 per stu-
dent per fiscal year. 
‘‘(2) The General Accounting Office in 1995 re-
ported that the Nation’s elementary and secondary 
schools need approximately $112,000,000,000 to re-
pair or upgrade facilities. Increased enrollments and 
continued building decay has raised this need to an 
estimated $200,000,000,000. Local education agen-
cies, 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 unsatisfac-
tory 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 be-
havior to the physical building conditions and over-
crowding. 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 popu-
lations 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 over-
crowded schools, these same facilities are utilized as 
classrooms for an expanding school population. 
‘‘(8) Overcrowded classrooms have a dire im-
pact 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 tech-
niques. Overcrowding also disrupts normal operating 
procedures, such as lunch periods beginning as early 
as 10 a.m. and extending into the afternoon; teach-
ers being unable to use a single room for an entire 
day; too few lockers for students, and jammed hall-
ways and restrooms which encourage disorder and 
rowdy behavior. 
‘‘(9) School modernization for information tech-
nology 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 construc-
tion. 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 in-
formation technology workers continues to escalate 
and presently many foreign workers are being re-
cruited to staff jobs in America. Military manpower 
shortages of personnel capable of operating high 
tech equipment are already acute in the Navy and 
increasing in other branches of the Armed Forces. 
‘‘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 moderniza-
tion 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 construc-
tion, 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, re-
construction, 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 appro-
priated 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 agen-
cy shall consider—
‘‘(A) the threat the condition of the phys-
ical plant poses to the safety and well-being of 
students; 
‘‘(B) the demonstrated need for the con-
struction, reconstruction, renovation, or mod-
ernization as based on the condition of the facil-
ity; 
‘‘(C) the age of the facility to be renovated 
or replaced; 
‘‘(D) whether the facility is eligible to re-
ceive education technology assistance from the 
National Education Technology Funding Cor-
poration under section 708 of the Telecommuni-
cations 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 edu-
cational 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 edu-
cational 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, recon-
struction, renovation, or modernization for information 
technology, as determined by the State educational agen-
cy. 
‘‘SEC. 10004. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 
‘‘The Secretary shall take such action as may be nec-
essary 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 sub-
section in cases or classes or cases where laborers or me-
chanics, not otherwise employed at any time in the con-
struction 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 edu-
cational institution undertaking the construction. 
‘‘SEC. 10005. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘As used in this title: 
‘‘(1) SCHOOL.—The term ‘school’ means struc-
tures suitable for use as classrooms, laboratories, li-
braries, and related facilities, the primary purpose of 
which is the instruction of elementary and secondary 
school students.
‘‘(2) STATE.—The term State includes the sev-
eral 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, $3,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2003 and a sum 
no less than this amount for each of the 4 succeeding fis-
cal years.’’.
Æ