Congressman Cohen Votes for Legislation to Help Modernize Tennessee's School Facilities

The House passed the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act (H.R. 3021), which provides funding to states and school districts to help ensure that school facilities and learning environments are safe, healthy, energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, and technologically advanced. The legislation includes more than $110 million in funding for physical improvement projects for Tennessee’s schools.

“We must ensure that our school buildings in the 9th District and across the country are safe and healthy learning environments for our children,” said Congressman Cohen. “I was proud to vote for this bill because our public schools are hundreds of billions of dollars short of the funding needed to bring them up to good condition. Meanwhile, the research clearly shows that there is a positive correlation between the quality of school’s facilities and student achievement.”

While Congress provided $1.2 billion in funding for emergency school repairs in 2001, and provided additional resources for schools devastated by Hurricane Katrina and Rita, the Bush administration has not provided direct funding for general school construction in any of its budgets over the last eight years. As a result, schools have been forced to rely mostly on state and local funding for any repair or renovation projects.

“In addition to the improvements in our schools’ facilities, federal funding for a public school modernization effort would help to create much-needed jobs in the construction industry – one the industries hit hardest by the recent economic downturn,” explained Congressman Cohen. “And by making our schools more energy efficient and more reliant on clean, renewable sources of energy, we can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lessen our impact on global warming.”

Overall, H.R. 3021 would authorize $6.4 billion for school renovation and modernization projects for fiscal year 2009, and would ensure that school districts quickly receive funds for projects that improve schools’ teaching and learning climates, health and safety, and energy efficiency. To further encourage energy efficiency and the use of renewable resources in schools, the bill would require that the majority of funds for school improvement projects meet widely recognized green building standards and would provide states with funds to help schools track their facilities’ needs, energy use, and carbon footprints, among other things.

In the Gulf Coast, where public schools still face hundreds millions of dollars unmet need in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the legislation would authorize separate funds – half a billion dollars over five years – for schools.

For more information on H.R. 3021, please visit https://edlabor.house.gov/publications/HR3021FactSheet.pdf.

The 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act is supported by a broad coalition of organizations, including the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, the American Federation of Teachers, the American Association of School Administrators, the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, the California Small School Districts Association, Californians for School Facilities, the Council of the Great City Schools, the Green Building Initiative, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, the International Union of Operating Engineers, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, the Mason Contractors Association of America, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Education Association, the National School Boards Association, the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada, the Parent Teacher Association, the Rebuild America’s Schools Coalition, and the U.S. Green Building Council.

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Marilyn Dillihay, Press Secretary, 202-225-3265
Charlie Gerber, Communications Assistant, 202-225-3265