Date: 1984-07-25
Speaker: DE LUGO (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I wish to commend the chairman of the committee. the gentleman from Kentucky . for the excellent work he has done on this legislation. and I commend all the members of this committee. Mr. Chairman. I rise in support of H.R. 11 which proposes to reauthorize a number of important educational programs. Of special concern to me are two provisions specifically regarding education in the U.S. Virgin Islands: reauthorization of general assistance to the Virgin Islands and teacher training for all of the territories. General assistance to the Virgin Islands was intended to partially compensate the Virgin Islands for problems created by Congress through the passage of Federal legislation-(Public Law 91225)-and a subsequent U.S. district court rulingHosier against Evanswhich added 7.000 noncitizen students into the territorys public schools. Since 1979. only $10.54 million of the originally authorized $25 million have been made available to improve public school education in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The intent of Congress was to correct the problems caused by the tremendous increase in the Virgin Islands school population. but frankly. we are still struggling to get on our feet. While public education has experienced declining enrollments nationally. the Virgin Islands school enrollment has been growing steadily. Presently. over onethird of the territorys estimated 100.000 population is of school age. Our academic concerns are also increased by the return to public schools of a large number of children previously attending nonpublic schools. Over 20 percent of Virgin Islands children. as compared to a composite national average of 8 percent. attend nonpublic schools. However. the downturn of the economy and the resulting increase in unemployment in the last 3 II7789 years has caused many families to transfer their children from private schools to public schools. placing an even greater demand on the public school system. Since 1970. the Government of the Virgin Islands has committed between 25 to 33 percent of its operating budget to support public education. Currently. the Department receives approximately $64 million of the $233 million general fund appropriations. The Government of the Virgin Islands is nonetheless committed to the improvement of education and supports and recognizes the needs of its Department of Education. In spite of financial constraints. previous capital improvement projects have added a total of 13 schools since 11970 that are serving 10.808 children. Additional construction projects have resulted in the completion of 99 classrooms at previously existing schools. The Government of the Virgin Islands has spent close to $100 million to deal with the physical needs caused by the increased enrollment. Past expenditures have not been sufficient to meet the physical demands. and. at the present time overcrowded conditions still exist. The U.S. Virgin Islands consists of three major islands and a number of smaller islets and cays separated by 40 miles of open sea. The 35 public schools administered by the Virgin Islands Department of Education are located on the three major islands. Because of this physical separation. a duplication of services. personnel. materials. and equipment is necessary and results in increased costs. The distance from the U.S. mainland also results in increased costs to purchase materials. supplies. and equipment. On most of our purchases an additional 15 to 20 percent is expended for transportation charges. These additional charges also apply to the purchase of building materials which are used for the construction of new schools and renovations and alterations of existing facilities. As a result of these factors. the dollar does not go as far in the Virgin Islands as it would on the mainland. This amplifies our need for this assistance. I ask you to consider the Virgin Islands position in the Caribbean. especially in light of the recently enacted Caribbean Basin Initiative. Virgin islanders are proud of their IT.S. identity. Part of that identity is our relation to the mainland school systems and its standards. We are located in the midst of islands newly independent. some leaning toward Communist ideologies. From this perspective we consider it important to assert a strong U.S. model. A direct indicator is the care we take in the education of our children. The funds provided under general assistance will be used to upgrade our physical facilities through classroom renovation and construction. develop curricula and expand remedial efforts. This plan will serve as the catalyst to effect mandatory changes in our public school system. It is designed to provide additional tangible educstional benefits to our children and to develop changes in our current educational curriculm practices. The Territorial Teacher Training Program is beneficial to all of the territories. This program has helped the offshore possessions to acquire a more stable teaching force. The territories have been forced to recruit large numbers of teachers from the continental United States. Many leave after very short tenures. The teacher training programs provide effective teaching methods and techniques for our own people to use. and have been an important first step in attempting to fill the demand for elementary and secondary school teachers. While each territory has devised varying programs to meet its individual situation. these plans have the common goals of training recruited teachers. specialists. and administrators to understand and cope with the unique cultural and social aspects of the community. and to improve teaching methodology. This has resulted in an increase in teacher effectiveness and a decrease in the high teacher turnover rates. In addition. the departments of education in the respective territories have identified highly qualified teacher aides. paraprofessionals. and gifted secondary students and encouraged them to pursue careers in the teaching field. A total of 160 individuals have been involved in the Teacher Training Program in the Virgin Islands. Twentyeight have received degrees. sixteen of whom received their degrees in June of this year. This fall. 140 students are expected to enroll in the program. While major steps have been taken. there is still a need for additional funding to complete the job of training local teachers in the territories. I urge you to reauthorize these two programs. both of which have a vital impact on the ability of the U.S. Virgin Islands to educate its children. In closing. I wish to join my colleagues of the Hispanic Caucus in endorsing the bilingual education provisions of this bill. I am particularly pleased by the setaside in this program for a flexible instruction approach. This is a good bill. a necessary one. I urge its passage. In particular. I urge that we guarantee the education of the children of the Virgin Islands. so that they may rightfully embark into the future alongside all other children of America.