Cleo Fields

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Absolutely, and you know this whole voter registration among young people is really catching on. I do not know if you are familiar with the shows called the Tom Journal Morning Show. It is a show that is on every morning on many of the syndicated shows on many of the ministations all across America. I mean I was sitting in--I was driving in the car the other day, and I heard Tom Journal that morning talking about how people, particularly young people, need to register to vote, and he started this thing: You know, register five people to vote and call their names in and I will announce them over the air. And people were actually registering people to vote, and he was announcing the names over the air. I just think that is so encouraging because a lot of people do not wake up in the morning, young people for example, who is about to go to a biology lab, who is on a college campus, not thinking about voting per se, interested in the future, interested in the outcome of elections, but not registered. As you stated, many college students, when they leave from Illinois and go to Los Angeles to register for college, they may be registered back home, but the likelihood of them going back to Illinois from California to vote on election day is not all that great. And so it is incumbent upon them to register to vote at that college, at that university because they are going to be there 4 to 5 years on the average. So that is really home. That is where they are going to be during the local and State and perhaps Federal elections. So that is where they ought to exercise the power. They should never go powerless. And I was just impressed with Tom Journal. I think that is the name of the show, the Tom Journal Morning Show. You know, encouraging people to register to vote. I will give you an example. Yes, we talk about, you and I debate night and day, for student loans and grants, Pell grants, to make sure that those opportunities are available to students today as they were available to us when we were in college. Why is it? I mean people that asked the question why is it that legislators would move on college tuition and raise college tuition or vote to cut higher education so that schools and board of directors have to raise college tuition and cut Pell grants and student loans and things of that nature? I mean let us look at it from a political perspective and preserve seniors on the other hand. Let us look at it from a political perspective. If you look on the voter register rolls and you see most of the registered voters in this country are of the age of 55 to 65, and the fewest number of registered voters are between the ages of 18 and 35, then of course you are more likely to move on that age group than you are likely to move on the age group that is most registered to vote, but not just registered to vote, but more likely to go to the polls and vote on election day. Because it is one thing to register to vote, but it is another thing to actually go out and use the power by voting. So college students--I mean we can fight. You and I and other Members of this Congress on both sides of the aisle, we can fight night and day about, you know, we need to keep student loans, we need to keep opportunities available to elementary, secondary, and higher education, but if we do not have students out there--they get enough of ire education, they get enough of a Pell grant, they thinking enough of student loans, that they are not exercising a power that they rightfully have by going to the polls and vote, especially after we passed this easy, easy, easy voter registration process. I mean this bill that we have passed in this Congress. We passed a bill, as you stated, where a student government president, for example, can walk into a classroom and register every student. A teacher rather, a professor in a class at an institution, can say all right, first day of school, the first question: How many of you all are registered to vote right here at this college? And have the forms there. It is legal. OK, register to vote. Do not have to dictate how you register, Democrat or Republican; that is irrelevant for registration purposes, or how you vote or who you vote for. You know, I am not going to advocate teachers do that. But it should be part of the learning process. You talk about personal responsibility? One of the first basic personal responsibilities that individuals have is to claim citizenship by registering to vote, and then that teacher, that professor--I mean just think about if every college campus--just think about HBCU's, just take black colleges, for example, on Monday, the 23d. If every professor say, OK, what we will do this day is we will register every student in this class. When you walk into my class, you have the opportunity to register to vote the first 5 minutes, and I will personally turn these forms in. And the 100 percent voter registration on college campus, the kind of power, and not just HBCU's, historically black colleges, but all college students can have if they only exercise that constitutional right, and it is so easy to do. I mean some can right now in their dormitories just dial 1-800- REGISTER and be registered to vote.

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Or what about education?

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. You are a former student leader on your college campus. How did you and your colleagues encourage young people or get young people at North Carolina A&T registered to vote? Let us face it, there are a lot of students who are not from North Carolina, who really do not care about the local politics of North Carolina, some not even concentrating on national politics, either. They are at North Carolina A&T just to get an education. When I was at Southern, that was one of the big things I had to face, trying to encourage students to register to vote, though they were not from the State. What did you do to encourage nonresidents, so to speak, though they are residents once they register for school, to take an interest in registering to vote and actually vote on an election day?

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comment. There are so many creative ways we used, so many creative ways to register young people to vote on a college campus. We used all kinds of techniques. We got all the professors involved, professors encouraged students to get on a bus. At that time we had to take the bus. That is why I cannot even comprehend why a student is not registered to vote, because in 1994 when I was SU president, in 1984, rather, when I was SU president, you had to take students to register. I could not walk up to a student in Louisiana and say, or anybody, are you registered to vote; no, I am not. I could not register that student. But this Congress passed legislation where you can do that now. If I was SU president I would walk around with voter registration cards in my pocket. For every student I came in contact with, I would ask the question, are you registered to vote? Because they empowered me as their student representative on the board of regents, their student representative as president of the student body, to speak with force to legislators to protect the institution and protect higher education statewide. Going back to talking about it and saying nothing, we can always complain about the problem, but you are part of the problem if you are not participating. I was not as fortunate as you. Look at me, I am a little smaller than you. I could not play football, could not play many sports. I did not have an athletic scholarship. I had a book scholarship, a small academic scholarship, a book scholarship that only lasted 1 year that I received from the American Legion. My family, my mom and my dad died when I was young, 5 years old. My mom raised 10 of us. There were 10 of us. I could not even afford to take out a student loan, to even entertain the thought of taking out a $5,000 student loan each semester. I could not even see how one could pay $5,000. At the end of the day, $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 after you graduate, I could not understand that. I had the opportunity to participate in the Government's Pell Grant Program. I was able to get BEOG, the basic educational opportunity grant. Without that BEOG, quite frankly, since I did not have an athletic scholarship, I had a small academic scholarship that only took care of my books, so I do not know if I would have been able to attend college. It would have been irresponsible of me as a recipient of the BEOG, a Government grant for higher education to assist me, because I did not have the kind of resources that other students may have had, to not vote. I wanted to protect my BEOG. Every time I heard of fights in Washington, DC, about cutting the BEOG and cutting Pell grants, I wanted to register even more students, because I wanted to make sure that this program was protected, because it is a program that gave benefits to so many students who, through no fault of their own, just did not have the resources and parents did not have the resources to send them to school. Without it, I would not have gotten a higher education. Mr. Speaker, that is why it is so important. I am going to give a list of members of this Congressional Black Caucus who will attend Black College Day on the 23d of this month. I just think that is outstanding. I want to thank you for your leadership, that every member of the CBC, every last, every individual member of the CBC, the Congressional Black Caucus, will be at an HBCU on Monday, September 23, celebrating Black College Day, and encouraging young students to register and vote on all college campuses across America.

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Let me just tell the gentleman where many of our colleagues will be on September 23. The gentleman from Georgia, Sanford Bishop, will attend Albany State College. I just think this is history making, having every member of the CBC at a historically black college in this country to talk about, listen, it is time to not just have a program, but to register to vote. The gentlewoman from Florida, Ms. Corrine Brown, will be at Bethune Cookman College and Edward Waters College, as well; the gentleman from Missouri, Mr. William Clay, Lincoln University; the gentlewoman from North Carolina, Eva Clayton, Fayetteville State; the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Elijah Cummings, a new Member of this body, Morgan State and Coppin State University; the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Chaka Fattah, Lincoln University; the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Alcee Hastings, Florida A&M; the gentleman from Alabama, Mr. Earl Hilliard, will be at Alabama State University; the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia, Ms. Eleanor Holmes Norton, will be at Howard University; the gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. William Jefferson, Xavier University in New Orleans; the gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson, the Paul Quinn College; the gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Sheila Jackson- Lee, Texas Southern University; the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. John Lewis, AU Center; the gentlewoman from Florida, Mrs. Carrie Meek, will be at Florida Memorial College; the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Bobbie Scott, Norfolk State University; the gentleman from Mississippi, Mr. Bennie Thompson, Jackson State University; the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Albert Wynn, Bowie State University. I can go on and on. Every member of the CBC, and you are trying to make your alma mater, A&T, or North Carolina A&T, and a college in Illinois, in your district. There is so much energy among CBC members who want to participate, who want to be at a college on that day to get your people registered to vote. But the SGA presidents have a responsibility and the Greek presidents have a responsibility, and all the civic and social organizations have a responsibility. They have a responsibility to say, by the end of the day, we will register 100 percent of our student body. Professors have a responsibility.

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. College presidents have a responsibility. Most colleges, when I was going to school, we had what you call a convocation, and freshmen had freshmen seminars, something they had to attend every week. Every student had to attend convocation. You attended convocation. What would happen if a college president said, OK, at this convocation, for the first 15 minutes, I want every student to be registered to vote; pass out the cards, not influencing students as to how to vote or how to register in terms of party affiliation, but if you choose to register, you have 15 minutes to do so right now. I passed a bill in Louisiana where registration, college registration, will incorporate voter registration, when the registrars or voters office has to be present during college registration on college campuses in the State of Louisiana; a way to register students to vote when they register for college. You worked when you were a kid on a piece, and I remember talking to you, I was at Southern and you were at A&T, talking about registering students to vote when they graduate from high school; if they graduated with a diploma in one hand and the voter registration card in the other. I remember that, and that worked. I went back to Louisiana and I tried to institute the same thing. I said, OK, when you graduate from high school, you have to have a diploma in one hand.

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Knowledge and power. I cannot overemphasize how important this is. For the 23d, it is HBCU, historical black colleges and universities, but listen, every college students, irrespective of what college they attend, ought to register to vote. SGA presidents have their responsibility.

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Let me ask the gentleman a question. If I were sitting at home tonight and I wanted to register to vote, in my dormitory, watching television, doing whatever, washing, and I just want to register to vote, what is that number that I can call right now if I wanted to register to vote?

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. What is that number for my edification?

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. I want to make sure I am doing it right. All I have to do if I go back to my office right now and I wanted to register to vote is pick up the phone and dial 1-800-REGISTER?

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. That is all I have to do?

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. What will happen? They will send me a package or something?

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. I yield to the gentlewoman.

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, tonight I rise to talk about two very important issues; one, education, and how we move forward in this Congress and in Congresses to come as relates to education from a budgetary perspective. I would first like to bring to the House's attention a meeting that the Education Caucus held on July 31 of 1996. Right before we left for the August break we had a caucus meeting, and we talked about bringing businesses together to talk about how we can get businesses involved in improving education for our country because we feel that that, Mr. Speaker, is a relationship and a marriage that must be forged all across this country in order to improve the quality of education in this Nation. I am very happy that Senator Wellstone from the other body, who is the co-chair along with myself of this Education Caucus, cochaired this meeting with me, and we had several panelists who discussed various ways that the business community could help in improving education in this country. One of the panelists, Mr. Speaker and Members, was Audrey Easaw from Giant Food. She was the project manager for Apples for Students Plus. This is a very unique program that Giant Food market decided to institute in several States across the country, and we certainly urge other businesses across America to do the same, because when businesses actually take an interest in education in which they get dividends in the long run because, after all, these are the individuals that they will be employing to run their businesses. Giant Food market decided to embark upon a program where they actually go in and put computers in schools. I mean you have heard the President and you have heard the Vice President talk about the need to put computers in every classroom across America to bring our kids into the 21st century and to also prepare them for the Superhighway, Information Highway. Giant supermarket has already taken this challenge and accepted this challenge, and I am happy that, according to their testimony, Mr. Speaker, they are operating in four States, and what they choose to do is go into a school or go into a community, go into a State and actually put the computers, the software into the schools and help kids through the necessary tutorial programs where they train teachers and then help teachers train kids about computers and the necessary software. One of the unique ways they raise money for this project is by taking a certain percentage of the gross receipts of individuals who are consumers who shop at their stores. So that also encourages people to shop and save their receipts and then give them to the school kids to turn them in at the next school day so that they can be credited at the end of the day for more and additional software. So that is in fact, Mr, Speaker and Members, a program that I am very pleased about, and I want to put the testimony of Audrey Easaw into the Record. They not only buy computers, but they also buy telescopes, microscopes, math equipment. TV's, VCR's, and other equipment that the school may need as relates to telecommunication and communications in general. They have also established an adopt-a-school program, and I am talking about these programs, Mr. Speaker, because I want individuals to know what kind of impact businesses can have on schools, because there are many schools across America, quite frankly speaking, that just do not have the necessary dollars in order to improve the infrastructure, in order to improve the computer technology within the schools, and therefore businesses can merge or forge a relationship with schools and actually get a benefit as a result of it. They have an adopt-a-school program where they target over 10,000 businesses per year to challenge them to put matching funds from their employees. When their employees give money, then they challenge businesses to match those funds as well. We have the opinion that government cannot do everything and cannot do it all, not only in education, but in any facet of our society. But when we have everybody pulling that wagon in the same direction, then we can get there a lot quicker. So I would like to put the testimony of Miss Audrey Easau in the Record, and next I want to talk about a Mr. Norman Manasa. He is from the National Education Project Inc. who testified before the caucus, the Education Caucus. They started and initiated a nationwide tutorial program serving medium-sized cities. They decided to go into medium- sized cities and actually build schools and have a tutorial program to educate kids in math, reading, science, and other subjects, and they do it very intense. They actually go into a school and have schools to open up hours and actually have tutors on staff to help train kids in the necessary subjects. I mean, that is another program that we saw to urge businesses to play a role, because we feel that that certainly will help strengthen our educational system all across this country. No government funds are required for this effort. It is designed to directly impact elementary and college students as well. Undergraduate institutions are targeted and supported by corporate sponsors. Students are required to provide 60 hours of tutoring per semester as a part of a 3-credit course. So they also have the colleges involved, which is very unique because I mean if you can give a college student credit for going into the community and actually tutoring a kid, that is something that certainly not only builds this Nation educationally, but it also gives a student some sense of community service as well. Decca Armstrong, who is from the National Cable Television Association, spoke of two of the cable industry's major educational initiatives. One is cable in the classroom, and cable's high-speed educational connection. Those were two important programs that he spoke of during the education caucus meeting. Since 1989 cable companies have worked with school districts. Approximately 75,000 schools nationwide have been provided free cable connection through this program. Thirty-five programs provide 540 hours each month of quality commercial-free programming. All of this is free. Here again, this is where businesses play a very key role in helping our educational system across this country improve, not only from an infrastructural viewpoint, in terms of computers and actual physical plant of the building, but also getting into the classroom and dealing with the meat of the educational systems, teaching and tutoring kids about the different subjects. Teachers are provided with instructional materials and curricula supplies to assist them in classrooms. This is very needed because there are so many teachers who work into classrooms every day and do not have the necessary tools to teach. So when businesses get involved and help supply teachers with the necessary school supplies, and the students, then it certainly makes for a better educational situation in that classroom. Because we can have the best classroom in the world, and if the teacher does not have the tools to teach, the books, computers, and other tools and resources, then very little learning will probably take place in that classroom. Last, we heard from Mr. William Oliver from Bell South who addressed the Education Caucus on the availability of new technology and the availability of employees who are prepared to accept the challenges that corporate America is sure to present them. His perspective was more they are training many of their employees to go into the schools, because they realize that many of today's students will be tomorrow's employees. So they are training their employees, and they have a particular division, as I appreciated, of their operation to go into schools, inner-city schools, and teach kids about new technologies that are available. It just goes to show you what can happen and what should happen when business and education connect, and I would like to put all of this information in the Record, because these are individuals who testified before the Education Caucus committee and did a great job. We certainly do not want their information, this information, to go unnoticed. Mr. Speaker, next I want to talk about an initiative that the President initiated some weeks or a couple of months ago. We have often talked about how the Government can play a role in improving the infrastructure of schools across America. I am very pleased that the President decided to start an initiative to help local schools across America build their infrastructure. As we know, there are many schools across America who do not have the financial wherewithal to improve their infrastructure. We all know that there is a serious problem with schools decaying. We have schools that are falling by the very bricks that are holding them up. We have schools that could not pass a code on any day of the week, but they are still open and they are still in the process, in the business of educating our children. Our schools in many instances or in some instances are in worse condition than jails and other facilities in the area. So the President has made a decision, proposed a new initiative to help communities and States to help rebuild the Nation's schools. This is a very straightforward program, one that the Education Caucus supports. We have talked about it for a long time. We are glad that the President has taken the initiative to bring it to the forefront, and also put money behind it and support it as well. It is not a free-fall program, it is a program that will put about $5 billion into infrastructure building across America. Individuals have to, quite frankly, start their new construction or renovate their schools, refurbish their schools, and 50 percent of the interest money they spend on building their schools or refurbishing their schools will be subsidized by this $5 billion program. We have talked enough about refurbishing and rebuilding schools in America. We all know that is a serious problem and a serious calamity. In order for us to make our schools what they should be, it is going to take initiatives like this. It is going to take initiatives like what the business community is doing. We encourage more of them to do the same, to do so. I would like just to talk a little bit about this program, and then I will yield to my distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Jackson] who I have been joined by, who is also a distinguished member of the Education Caucus, to further talk about the President's initiative. Key elements of this program are very simple: Up to 50 percent of the interest subsidy for new schools, new school construction and renovation, one will be able to access under this $5-billion program. The initiative will reduce interest rates on new school construction and renovation projects by up to 50 percent, with a sliding subsidy scale dependent on the need. So this is not where a school system, Mr. Speaker, can just walk in and say ``I want to benefit from this new subsidized program.'' They must have the qualifications in order to participate. It is going to spur about $20 billion in new construction. This $5 billion will end up being about $20 billion, based on the number of construction dollars that will actually be put into schools over a 4-year period. The interest reduction is equivalent to subsidizing $1 out of every $4 for construction. This is something we have needed for a long time. Now poor school districts across America can now say ``We can afford to refurbish our schools, we can afford to renovate,'' and in some cases even build new schools. The goal of the 25-percent increase in school construction over the 4 years is a very simple one. On average we spend about $10 billion a year in present dollars in school construction, $40 billion over a 4- year period, which means that we will, if we put $20 billion over a 4- year period each year, that will be substantial dollars in school construction. These are one-time construction initiatives, paid fully by the one-time spectrum auction that the President has decided to pay for this program out of. So these are not new tax dollars, these are money that will come from the one-time spectrum auction. Local and State governments maintain the responsibility and control over construction. Still, education and construction is still the responsibility of local and State government. The Federal Government is not stepping in and seizing that responsibility. It is only assisting. I have often said, and I say today, that education is a partnership. It is not a State problem or a State responsbility or a local problem or a local responsibility or a Federal problem or a Federal responsibility. Education is a partnership. We all have to play a role in improving the quality of education for our kids. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Jackson].

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. I want to thank the gentleman. I want to share with the gentleman also some statistics from his State as well as my State as relates to the GAO report, the recent report, as relates to the infrastructure of schools across the Nation. I do not know if the gentleman is aware, but if we take the State of Illinois, the percentage of schools reporting at least one inadequate original building in Illinois is 29.2 percent of the schools and in Louisiana, 28.0. So from that perspective, Illinois and Louisiana, as most of the schools if we look at the chart, we see schools across the country in the teens, high teens. Florida 18.3, Georgia 18.5, Hawaii 16.3, Idaho 27.4, Kansas 33.7. When we talk about the percentage of schools reporting at least one inadequate original building, it is a devastating number or percentage as relates to this report. Then the percentage of schools reporting at least one inadequate attached and/or detached permanent addition, in Illinois, your State, it is 8.8 percent. In Louisiana it is 8.7 percent. Here again the numbers in Louisiana and Illinois are somewhat the same. On page 33 of the GAO report. The percentage of schools reporting at least one inadequate temporary building in Illinois, your State, 4.4 percent, and in Louisiana which is, I think Louisiana almost leads the Nation from this perspective, 24.8. South Carolina with 29.4. It just goes to show how schools all across America, we need to invest in infrastructure. Just the other year we passed legislation that put $30 billion, actually about $12 billion, $17 billion in building jails. What is wrong with putting $5 billion in helping local and State government refurbish their schools. Percentage of schools reporting at least one inadequate onsite building, 31.0 percent in Illinois and 38.6 percent in Louisiana. Very interesting numbers. We can go down the list and we see that many of our schools across America are in great need of repair. I was looking at page 66 of the GAO report where it talked about the description of the estimate in terms of what it would cost to get schools into a status where they should be in terms of improving infrastructure. Very interesting numbers. Nationwide, the total amount estimated needed to put American schools into good overall condition, GAO estimated that it would take $112 billion. That is an investment we have to make to our children not as a Federal Government, I am talking State, local, Federal, business, we all must come together to improve the quality of education. We cannot expect kids to learn in a school that does not have an air conditioner during the summertime. It just does not make sense. Or a heater during the wintertime. For crying out loud, if a prisoner was in prison and they did not have an air conditioner during the summertime, then some Federal judge would close the prison down. We have to make sure that we invest in our future.

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Absolutely, no question about it. The education caucus, as the gentleman knows, we have made it a point not to bash members, to make it a partisan issue, because education is not a partisan issue. It is a nonpartisan issue. Both sides of the aisle agree that we must improve the quality of education. We have to get out of the business of pointing fingers because while we point fingers, we have kids out there who do not have the kind of schools that they need, that are conducive for learning, teachers that are not paid the kind of salaries that they deserve in order to live, in order to take care of their day-to-day expenses like a house note, a car note, and things of that nature. Further, the average amount estimated needed per school, this is an interesting figure, $1.7 million. That is the average amount, according to GAO, that is needed to repair a school, $1.7 million. We ought to have a summit with Federal, State, and local officials to talk about how we get these schools up to par. You cannot open a barber shop in Baton Rouge, LA unless you pass all of the fire codes, unless you pass all of the city codes. We had schools open up yesterday, I grant you in Baton Rouge, LA, and Chicago, IL, and in Washington, DC, that could not pass a code, a city code, if they tried.

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. I think we have to press that issue. I think we have to get real serious about the safety and soundness of our schools and the conditions of our schools for the interest of not only the students and the teachers but for the interest of education, period. I think we have to send a very strong message that if a school does not pass the necessary codes, if it is not up to par, then it should not open. I am one of the strongest advocates, as the gentleman is, in this House as relates to education. But I do not think we ought to allow schools to open, schools that do not meet the code, because we will not allow a person to open up a barber shop, and one cannot opine the thought that we have more than interest in a barber shop or a shoeshine shop than we have in a school, an elementary and secondary school.

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Absolutely. I think the President is so right on this initiative. And if others, local, State, and the business community will all join hands and do something similar, just work with this initiative or have one similar to it, we can refurbish, rebuild and have new construction of schools all across America so we can give our kids an opportunity to learn again. We cannot, and I have said it over and over again tonight, we cannot expect learning to take place in a classroom when you have students walking in the classrooms all across America that do not have the proper tools. What purpose does it serve when we have students sitting in classrooms when they do not even have the proper textbooks? We have three and four students sharing the same textbook. We have some students that do not have a textbook at all. These are real situations that teachers have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. We have to address that calamity. The biggest national threat we have in this country is how we deal with education and how we deal with illiteracy. We have to give our kids a fighting chance. A final example. Who is committing crimes in this country? Over 83 percent of the people in jail are, what, high school dropouts? The people involved in drugs for the most part, many of them are high school dropouts. Most of the people who are unemployed, high school dropouts. We have to do a better job of retaining our kids in school and do a better job of educating our youth. I see we have been joined by the gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson- Lee]. I will be happy to yield to the gentlewoman.

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. I thank the gentleman. While we are on the subject of Illinois, I had an opportunity during the convention to visit your State and your district. The most impressive thing that I saw during that convention, during my week stay in Illinois, was the fact that young people came together. The refurbished a school in Chicago, Area Academy, which as a matter of fact you had a lot to do with that. Because of your insistence and because of your commitment to schools, we were able to get young people together to go, as the gentlewoman knows, and paint and clean and scrub bathrooms and just refurbish the Area Academy. Now that school is open to first through third graders. I think they started school today or yesterday. And that was because of the work, the sweat of young people. Now, but for that effort, that community effort, with young people actually going into that school, and they felt good about it. Just to see young people doing that, and feeling good about it as a project, and you see the little kids in first through third grades just sitting there coloring, making nice little signs because administrator Carol Browner, for example, was one of the persons who went in and actually scrubbed and cleaned and painted. It was just an amazing thing. Mr. Speaker, if more people across America just took the time to take a little time to go into schools and refurbish them, repaint them, you just should have seen the smiles on those kids' faces. I enjoyed it.

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. It is like the unique bumper sticker that we have all seen in our travels, if you can read this, thank a teacher. You cannot put it any more pointedly than that. If you can read this, thank a teacher.

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, as the gentleman knows, if he is speaking of the $5 billion program, under the President's proposal, it would be paid for by the selling of the spectrums. So the $5 billion program is in fact paid for or will be paid for. An expanded program, I do not know if the gentleman was speaking of an expanded program, a serious problem in terms of the number of dollars we need to improve all of the American schools. It was in the billions, I forgot the exact number. But we have to focus on it. I think it has to be a partnership between local, State, and Federal government.

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. These dollars are the dollars for the interest subsidy. You have to spend money on the construction first in order to benefit from the dollars, the $5 billion, because the $5 billion is not, they are not construction dollars per se. They are the interest, 50 percent of the interest of construction dollars. That is why we have come up with the figure of about $20 billion over a course of 4 years, $20 billion a year, actually. Let me add a couple other things just to shed some light on how serious this problem is across the Nation. I am about to read from the GAO report, page 16. They did an extensive report, and I think the gentlewoman, Senator Moseley-Braun, ought to be commended for requesting such information. About a third of all, about a third of the students in America, which is about 14 million, attend schools with one inadequate building. About 60 percent of the students in America, which is about 25 million, attend schools with at least one inadequate building feature. The same number, about 25 million, attend schools in buildings with at least one unsatisfactory environmental condition which means asbestos problems are still a real problem within our school systems. About 12 million students, 30 percent, attend schools with both problems, at least one inadequate building, one inadequate building feature and some problems with the environmental aspects. So it is a real problem that affects schools all across this Nation. Looking at this report, there is not one State in this country that is not affected. Every State in the United States of America is affected by this school infrastructure problem. Mr. Speaker, I have about 5 more minutes. I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Jackson-Lee.

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Jackson].

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank both the gentleman from Illinois and the gentlewoman from Texas for first of all serving on the Education Caucus, and I want to thank Members from both sides of the aisle who serve on the Education Caucus. We must make education a priority. Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record speeches and articles on the Education Caucus. I thank the Speaker. Speech for Congressman Cleo Fields' Education Caucus (Speaker: Audrey L. Easaw, Marketing Projects Manager/Project Manager, Apples for the Students PLUS, Giant Food Inc.) Good morning (afternoon); First of all, on behalf of Giant Food, I want to thank Congressman Fields for inviting me to talk to you about Giant's role as a corporate supporter of the elementary and secondary schools within our market area. We commend Congressman Fields for spear-heading this much-needed education caucus and we appreciate his vision for involving both the private and public sectors to assist in improving our educational system. I'd also like to introduce to you Donna Carter, senior coordinator for Giant's Apples for the Students PLUS Program. Donna and I have been with the program since it's inception. Donna does a tremendous job of maintaining a sophisticated data base of over 3,200 public, private, and parochial schools throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. She's also responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operation of our Apples office. Let me preface this talk by stating that I do not come to you as an expert on the educational system, but rather as a member of the corporate community who has witnessed first- hand, the magnificent impact that business can make on the education of our youth when both monetary and manpower commitments are made--and kept. Giant Food is no stranger to the education system both inside and outside of the Beltway. Over 50 years ago, we saw the need to become more actively involved within the communities that we served and that had been consistently loyal to us. I have had the extremely good fortune to work with an organization whose former CEO, the late Israel Cohen believed that assisting in the education of our youth was essential to becoming a successful member of the business community. Izzy believed that the support of education should not be tied to sales. He felt strongly that educational programs such as the 35 year-old ``It's Academic,'' high school television quiz show and our eight year-old Apples for the Students PLUS are simply the right initiatives for Giant to support. And there is no question in my mind that the children in over 3,200 schools that have been the beneficiaries of one or both of these educational programs will remember the Giant name for years to come. Whether they shop in our stores as they grow older or whether they mention to others in their communities that Giant provided scholarships or contributed computers that could not have otherwise been obtained by their schools, the children will remember. And that makes these sponsorships well worth every dime and minute spent by Giant. Giant's commitment to education started in 1959 when our founder N.M. Cohen announced that Giant would grant five $1,000 scholarships, a small beginning. Then in 1967, we began sponsoring the award-winning ``It's Academic'' a ``college-bowl'' formatted TV program which showcases the academic excellence of high school students. Giant has awarded in excess of $2 million to participating schools in the Washington and Baltimore Metropolitan Areas. (These scholarships enable students to pursue higher education at some of the best schools in our Nation.) Apples for the Students was first introduced to us in 1989 by Terry Gans, Giant's vice president of advertising and sales promotions. Terry saw the opportunity for Giant to begin placing computers and other technology in our schools during a time when school budgets were being cut to bare bones almost daily. Based on findings from a survey conducted by an outside marketing firm, we determined that elementary and secondary schools were the schools that faced the most extreme budgetary cuts. Today Giant maintain a staff of nine associates who are responsible for serving schools in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Delaware, New Jersey and beginning this fall, Pennsylvania. That's how committed we are to making sure that every school in the areas we serve receives needed educational equipment. For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with Giant's Apples Plus, the program works quite simply: Schools are asked to save their special colored receipt tapes from Giant and super G stores, total them, and turn them in to Giant for free educational equipment. This equipment is paid 100 percent by Giant. In fact, Giant is extremely proud of the fact that since October, 1989, we have spent over $42 million for educational equipment alone. This figure does not include staffing and administrative costs, or advertising. It translates into over 135,000 computers, printers, software packages, CD-roms, telescopes, microscopes, math equipment. TVs and VCRs and other learning tools. A major component of our Apples for the Students Plus program, is our Adopt-a-School plan. We sent invitations to over 10,000 businesses each year asking them to consider adopting an equipment-challenged school by setting up a tape collection box at their business for employees and customers to donate their tapes. We also ask businesses to consider matching their receipt tape collection with a cash gift made directly to their adopted school. What we have found is that even this type of limited commitment by our Adopt-A-School business partners, goes a long way toward effecting change in our schools and creating good-will not only for Giant, but for scores of other businesses in our community. At Giant, we believe we've made a difference, especially when we hear that a school has built a new computer and science lab to accommodate equipment earned through Apples for the Students Plus. But we still believe there's so much more to be done. And we welcome your partnership to assist in opening up an exciting new world of educational opportunities for so many more children. Thank you. Remarks by Norman Manasa, Director, the National Education Project, Inc. Before the Education Caucus of the U.S. Congress--July 31, 1996 Representative Fields, Senator Wellstone, Members of the United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, Honored Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen: I am very honored and delighted to have been invited here today to discuss The National Education Project, Inc., and to describe the Project's 20-city initiative, which is designed to provide reliable, profoundly effective tutors on a massive scale to children in the elementary schools of 20 medium-size cities across the country, cities such as Dayton, Ohio; Richmond, Virginia; or San Diego, California, for example. The tutoring is done by undergraduates as part of a three- credit college course, and each undergraduate is required to produce 60 hours of tutoring per semester. As a result, 20 programs in one city will provide a total of 126,000 hours of tutoring to children in that city's elementary schools over a three-year period (that is, 20 programs x 105 undergraduates per program x 60 hours of tutoring produced by each undergraduate). The National Education Project's 20-city initiative will produce a total of 2,520,000 hours of tutoring (that is, 20 cities x 126,000 hours of tutoring produced in each city). The purpose of this initiative is to transform the elementary school systems of 20 medium-size cities, and show to the nation the profoundly beneficial effect that reliable tutors on a massive scale can have on entire school systems. There would be a limit of one city per state, so that, when fully operational, a minimum of 20 states would be involved. No government funds, Federal, state, or local, are required for this effort. Instead, as it has done in the past, the National Education Project will solicit funds in each city from corporations, foundations, law firms, and from the general public. The Project will use these funds for three purposes: [1] to provide 20 grants to colleges in each city in the amount of $25,000 per grant (that is, 20 cities x 20 grants per city x $25,000 per grant); [2] to contract with an independent third party to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of the tutors; and [3] to underwrite the cost of operating 20 programs in each of 20 cities across the country. It should be pointed out that we do not actually need 20 different colleges in each city to participate, since one college can operate several programs at the same time. Five colleges in one city, for example, could operate four programs each. In that event, the National Education Project would provide each of the five colleges with four grants in the amount of $25,000 per grant; that is, one $25,000 grant for each of the departments participating. Once 20 program are in operation in each of 20 cities, the National Education Project then will begin the second stage of this initiative, which will be to find another 20 medium- size cities across the country willing to mount 20 programs in each city. This will produce another 2,520,000 hours of tutoring (that is, 20 cities 126,000 hours of tutoring produced in each city). We will repeat this process until we have transformed the school systems of every city in America that wishes to participate. The National Education Project, Inc. is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation with two main purposes: (1) To encourage colleges and universities across the country to offer courses in the Humanities and Social Sciences that combine experience and theory at the same time and provide undergraduates with a more realistic education than they can get through courses that provide only classroom theory. In a word, these courses are designed to inject experience into the search for Truth. (2) To provide reliable and effective tutors on a massive scale to children who must have this help if they are to master the basic literacy skills that are required for employment in a technological economy. The courses are taken as three-credit electives in various academic departments, such as Sociology, Economics, and Education. As a result, virtually all of the nation's 10,000,000 college students (and virtually all college in every city in America) are eligible to participate, since undergraduates, generally, must take elective courses to get a degree. In these courses, undergraduates obtain real-world experience by working as tutors six hours each week of the semester in elementary schools that are selected for their ability to provide a graphic illustration of the academic discipline as it exists in the real world. The undergraduates also are required to meet in weekly seminars with their supervising professor. In these seminars, the students' experience in the community is matched against the theories of the academic discipline. In this way, the undergraduates get a mix of experience and theory at the same time, and a greater understanding of the academic discipline than they can get in the college classroom alone. (This, of course, is not very new. Courses that combine experience and theory at the same time have been considered to be the highest form of learning in Western culture since the time of Galileo.) Here is an example of how this course works: Undergraduates who register for this course in Economics would tutor in an inner-city elementary school where they would see poverty firsthand. It is then the role of the Economics professor in the weekly seminars to examine poverty in modern society, and to describe, for example, how the major theories and authors in the field of Economics attempt to explain the existence of poverty in the richest nation in history, and why it is that poverty, against our best efforts continues to exist. This was the reasoning behind the original program that I began in the fall of 1968, when I was an undergraduate at the University of Miami in Florida. That program, upon which the National Education Project is based, registered its first undergraduates in the fall of 1969 and remained in operation until 1973. During that time, over 1,000 undergraduates enrolled in these courses, which were offered by a number of academic departments, including the Department of Economics. Academic credit served to acknowledge that the undergraduates were learning things about the various academic disciplines that they genuinely needed to know. In assessing the educational value that these courses had for the undergraduates, an Economics professor at the University of Miami wrote: ``The field experience brought a dimension to the [undergraduates'] education which would otherwise have been absent. The practical experience gave them insights into social realities which would have been nearly impossible to impart in a pure classroom environment, and this also made them think much more critically about many concepts which they had encountered on a purely intellectual level. ``Coming from an abstract discipline like Economics, I found this particularly gratifying.'' In addition to their educational merit, however, these courses also have the following benefits for undergraduates: (1) These courses provide undergraduates with work experience in the real world, the sort of experience that will help them to make a sensible choice of a college major, and a career. (2) It is this same work experience that will help the undergraduates to get a job upon graduation, since they will be able to show employers a clear record of achievement at something genuinely important; that is, teaching someone to read. (3) And, not least, these courses permit undergraduates to learn the ``old virtues'' of duty, obligation, and compassion. The Five Course Requirements These courses have five requirements, and, to receive credit for the course, the undergraduates are required to: 1. Tutor six hours each week of the semester. (Each undergraduate is required to produce a minimum of 60 hours of tutoring per semester; that is, six hours of tutoring per week x the 10 weeks in a semester.) 2. Attend a weekly seminar with their faculty supervisor. 3. Submit a one-page report each three weeks of the semester to their faculty supervisor. 4. Keep a private journal. 5. Submit a Final Report to their faculty supervisor at the end of the semester. Operational Benefits of the National Education Project Although the National Education Project is primarily an academic program for undergraduates, it is also designed to transfer to the illiterate poor the power to create wealth in the technological age; that is to say, Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. For this reason, the undergraduates work as tutors, and only as tutors, for the entire semester. They are not permitted to engage in any other activity. Moreover, it should be said that this Project is designed to use the resources that already exist in nearly every community in the nation; that is, undergraduates tutoring in established elementary schools under the direct supervision of classroom teachers. As a result, in terms of cost, simplicity of operation, and effectiveness, the National Education Project has the following advantages: 1. There are no expenditures for buildings or books. The undergraduates are permitted to work only in existing schools, and they use the books and instructional materials already in the classroom. 2. The undergraduates are required to work under the direct supervision of classroom teachers, who provide the undergraduates with the minimal on-the-job training they require. The classroom teachers volunteer to accept the tutors into their classrooms, and they provide this training to the tutors as a part of their normal classroom duties. 3. The classroom teachers decide which children will receive tutoring and the teachers also select the specific subject in which the children will be tutored. The tutors use the methodology of the classroom teacher, and work in the back of the classroom, while the classroom teacher conducts the larger class. 4. The undergraduates work as tutors in the old, classical sense of the term, and they are required to work on a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio, or in very small groups. The undergraduates are not permitted to work with the class as one large group. Moreover, the undergraduates do not grade papers for the classroom teacher, monitor the cafeteria at lunchtime, supervise recess, or do office work for the school principal. 5. Each undergraduate in this Project is required to produce a minimum of 60 hours of tutoring per semester; that is, six hours of tutoring per week x the 10 weeks in a semester. 6. The undergraduates are required to tutor on a regular schedule for the entire semester (for example, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, from 9:30 to 11:30), and they are required to sign-in and sign-out for each tutoring session in a book that is kept in the principal's office. There are no excused absences. 7. Because the tutoring is done as part of a college course, the undergraduates are reliable, accountable on a daily basis, and remarkably effective. 8. The classroom teachers provide the National Education Project with one-page, written evaluations at the end of each semester that measure the advances of the children in reading, writing, and mathematics. 9. There is no cost whatsoever to the children who are tutored by the undergraduates. 10. The undergraduates are not paid to do the tutoring. 11. The $25,000 grants are provided by The National Education Project, Inc. to colleges and universities under a standard, three-year contract, and each $25,000 grant is disbursed by the National Education Project to the colleges in six payments over a three-year period. These grants are used mainly to cover college faculty costs during the three- year grant period. At the same time, undergraduates who enroll in the course pay to the college or university the standard tuition that is required for any three-credit course. 12. Since the undergraduates pay tuition to take these courses, each college, if it chooses to do so, will be able to offer the course after the Project's three-year, $25,000 ``start-up'' grant ends, since the course in the fourth year would be funded by the tuition of the undergraduates who enroll in the fourth year, the course in the fifth year would be funded by the tuition of the undergraduates who enroll in the fifth year, and so forth. 13. As a practical matter, virtually all of the nation's 10,000,000 college students (and virtually all of the college students in the districts and states represented here this morning) are eligible to participate, since these courses are offered as ``electives'', and since undergraduates, generally, must take elective courses to get a degree. how to get this course started at one college To get the first semester started at one college, it is only necessary that one academic department agrees to offer the course, that one member of the full-time college faculty agrees to supervise the undergraduates, and that a minimum of five undergraduates enrolls in the course. (Institutions eligible to participate include public and private two-year colleges, four-year colleges, full universities, and community colleges.) During the first semester, the five undergraduates would work in one elementary school, which would be selected by the college or university. The elementary school must have a demonstrated need for tutors, and should be located near the college or university. During each of the next five semesters, it is expected that 20 undergraduates would enroll in the course, for a total enrollment of 105 undergraduates over the three-year/six-semester grant period. The tutors would be evenly divided each semester between two elementary schools. The university, if it chooses to do so, may send the undergraduates to the same elementary schools each semester of the three-year grant. the project's seven basic operational documents The National Education Project has developed seven basic operational documents, which, to a great extent, have been responsible for the success of our programs across the country. These documents are listed below: (1) The Project's Standard Three-Year Contract with the Colleges; (2) The College/School Agreement; (3) Guidelines for the Classroom Teacher; (4) Classroom Teacher's One-Page, End-of-Semester Evaluation Form; (5) Midterm Report of Hours of Tutoring Produced; (6) Outline for the End-of-Semester Report by the College Faculty Member; and (7) Final Report of Hours of Tutoring Produced. Hours of Tutoring Produced by the Undergraduates in One Program Each undergraduate enrolled in these courses is required to produce a minimum of 60 hours of tutoring per semester; that is, six hours of tutoring per week x the 10 weeks in a semester. During the life of the three-year grant, undergraduates from one university would produce a minimum of 6,300 hours of tutoring; that is, 105 undergraduates x 60 hours of tutoring produced by each undergraduate. Here is a breakdown of the number of hours of tutoring produced by undergraduates from one program during each semester of the three-year grant: (1) 1st Semester: 5 undergraduates x 60 hours of tutoring produced by each undergraduate = 300 hours of tutoring (2) 2nd Semester: 20 undergraduates x 60 hours of tutoring produced by each undergraduate = 1,200 hours of tutoring (3) 3rd Semester: 20 undergraduates x 60 hours of tutoring produced by each undergraduate = 1,200 hours of tutoring (4) 4th Semester: 20 undergraduates x 60 hours of tutoring produced by each undergraduate = 1,200 hours of tutoring (5) 5th Semester: 20 undergraduates x 60 hours of tutoring produced by each undergraduate = 1,200 hours of tutoring (6) 6th Semester: 20 undergraduates x 60 hours of tutoring produced by each undergraduate = 1,200 hours of tutoring Total number of hours of tutoring produced by 105 undergraduates from one college over three years = 6,300 Hours of Tutoring Produced by 20 Programs in One City Undergraduates from 20 programs in one city will provide a minimum of 126,000 hours of tutoring over three years to children in that city's elementary schools; that is, 105 undergraduates per program x 20 programs x 60 hours of tutoring produced by each undergraduate. Each program would send tutors to work in two elementary schools; 20 programs in one city, therefore, would send tutors to a total of 40 elementary schools. (1) 1st Semester: 5 undergraduates per program 60 hours of tutoring produced by each undergraduate 20 programs = 6,000 hours of tutoring. (2) 2nd Semester: 20 undergraduates per program 60 hours of tutoring produced by each undergraduate 20 programs = 24,000 hours of tutoring. (3) 3rd Semester: 20 undergraduates per program 60 hours of tutoring produced by each undergraduate 20 programs = 24,000 hours of tutoring. (4) 4th Semester: 20 undergraduates per program 60 hours of tutoring produced by each undergraduate 20 programs = 24,000 hours of tutoring. (5) 5th Semester: 20 undergraduates per program 60 hours of tutoring produced by each undergraduate 20 programs = 24,000 hours of tutoring. (6) 6th Semester: 20 undergraduates per program 60 hours of tutoring produced by each undergraduate 20 programs = 24,000 hours of tutoring. Total number of hours of tutoring produced by 105 undergraduates per program 20 programs over three years = 126,000. end-of-semester reports to corporate and foundation sponsors At the end of each semester, the National Education Project prepares an End-of-Semester Report for its corporate and foundation sponsors; this report has two main parts: (1) The precise number of hours of tutoring produced by the undergraduates during the previous semester. (2) Evaluations written by the classroom teachers that measure the advances of the children in reading and mathematics during the previous semester. (Please see the Project's standard Classroom Teacher's One-Page End-of- Semester Evaluation Form.) In 1985, the National Education Project began a national campaign designed to demonstrate that these programs could be made to work anywhere in the country. The Project was successful in this effort, and had programs in operation several years ago at 12 colleges and universities in six states across the country, including New York, California, Mississippi, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. The National Education Project also had considerable success raising funds from private sources for this effort, and a total of 19 corporations, law firms, and foundations provided support for these programs, including The Xerox Foundation, Hughes Aircraft Corporation, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Daily News, Houghton Mifflin Company, Exxon Education Foundation, Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company Digital Equipment Corporation, Taconic Foundation, Latham & Watkins, and Bank of Boston. In addition, a number of publications have written about the Project over the years, including The Washington Post, the Miami Herald, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Baltimore Sun, the Beaufort Gazette, Parade Magazine, and U.S. News & World Report. Most important, however, are the Project's results, and a two-page Summary of Results from the program that we had in operation in Chicago is attached. The undergraduates in this program tutored at Manierre Elementary, which drew its children from the Cabrini-Green Public Housing Project. The remarkable results at Manierre were produced in one semester, after just 302 hours of tutoring, and give a clear indication of what 2,520,000 hours of tutoring over the next several years will do for children in the elementary schools of the 20 cities we now seek. The purpose of the National Education Project's 20-city initiative is to provide reliable and effective tutors on a massive scale to children who are in great difficulty, and, in doing so, to raise reading and math scores across entire cities. It should be said, however, that the technological age is coming not just for the United States, but for every nation on earth, and, as a result, every nation must have a literate work force to create the nation's wealth. In light of this, it is certainly possible to begin programs at colleges and universities in other countries, and, to date, the following countries have indicated an interest in the work of the National Education Project: Brazil, India, Ireland, and South Africa. I would like to thank Representative Fields, Senator Wellstone, and all of you once again for your very kind invitation to join you today, and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Results: Columbia College of Chicago--Spring Semester, 1988 At the end of each semester, the faculty member at each college prepares a Final Report, which evaluates the effectiveness of the undergraduates during the previous semester. This is the Final Report for the Spring semester of 1988, prepared by the faculty member responsible for the course at Columbia College of Chicago. During this semester, five undergraduates produced 302 hours of tutoring: ``All five of the undergraduates tutored at the Manierre Elementary School, which is located at 1426 N. Hudson Street on Chicago's Near North Side. The school serves mainly children from the Cabrini-Green Public Housing Projects. These Projects are home to nearly 10,000 children, 76% of whom live in female, single-parented households. These Projects are predominately black, and have one of the highest concentrations of poverty in Chicago. ``Manierre Elementary School has all the challenges of an inner-city school, from truancy to family transiency and instability, but has the advantage of an efficient principal, Marlene Syzmanski, and some good dedicated teachers, like Carolyn Driver-McGee, our 2nd Grade classroom teacher. ``Ms. Syzmanski assigned all of our tutors to Ms. McGee's class of 2nd Graders, because the Reading the Math skills of the children were so low. In essence, all 13 children in the class were non-readers and most had difficulties in Math. Two of the children moved during the term, and several others were not present for testing, thereby eliminating data about their progress.'' At the end of the Spring semester of 1988, Ms. Carolyn Driver-McGee, the 2nd Grade classroom teacher at Manierre Elementary, provided written evaluations of the effectiveness of the tutors from Columbia College, and her evaluations follows. It should be said that the undergraduates produced these results in just one semester of tutoring. ``Bill [the undergraduate] was a very positive force in both Gregory's and Bernard's school year. He motivated the boys with stories, guided activities, and games. The boys felt very special because they had Bill as their tutor. ``Gregory gained 1 Year and 8 Months in Reading. Bernard gained 1 Year and 1 Month in Math.'' ``Connie [the undergraduate] worked diligently with Orlando and Shadeed. Each boy is a very unique student by all standards, but Connie was always there to motivate and interest the boys in different areas. ``Orlando gained 1 Year and 5 Months in Math, and Shadeed gained 6 Months in Math.'' ``Tammie [the undergraduate] was very positive for the children. . . . She reinforced class activities when needed. Her students were always begging to be tutored first, because each section was meaningful. ``Latoya gained 9 Months in Math. Akil gained 1 Year and 3 Months in Math.'' ``Nicole [the undergraduate] was very warm and caring for Michael, Stanley and Artrice. She motivated them in all subject areas when possible by reading stories, guiding activities, and with games. ``Stanley gained 1 Year and 6 Months in Math, and Artrice gained 9 Months in Math. No data was available for Michael. Nicole was a very good tutor for the students.'' ``Kristen [the undergraduate] worked very closely with her students. One of her students transferred and she had to start with a new tutee. She motivated him the same way she motivated the other students. She was very positive and it showed on the students' faces each time after sections. ``Lawrence gained 7 Months in Reading, and Terrance gained self-confidence. No [test] data was available for Terrance, but the self-confidence was even more valued.'' All of these evaluations were written by Mr. Carolyn Driver-McGee 2nd Grade Classroom Teacher, Manierre Elementary School, Chicago, Illinois--June 1, 1988. The Project's Press Clips (1) Baltimore Evening Sun; (2) Baltimore Sun; (3) Beaufort Gazette; (4) Houston Chronicle; (5) The Miami Herald; (6) Parade Magazine; (7) presstime--The American Newspaper Publishers Association; (8) Reader's Digest; (9) Richmond Times-Dispatch; (10) The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle; (11) San Antonio Express-News; (12) U.S. News & World Report; and (13) The Washington Post. Grants From Corporations and Foundations--1985 to 1996 In 1985, The National Education Project, Inc. (formerly known as The Washington Education Project, Inc.) began a national fund-raising campaign designed to provide $25,000 ``start-up'' grants to colleges all across the country. To receive these funds, the colleges agreed to establish special three-credit courses in the Humanities and Social Sciences in which undergraduates would be required to work as tutors in various community agencies, mainly elementary schools. Since 1985 the Project has received support for this effort from the following corporations, foundations, and law firms: (1) Bank of Boston; (2) Boston Gas Company; (3) Corina Higginson Trust; (4) Correction Connection, Inc.; (5) Digital Equipment Corporation; (6) Exxon Education Foundation; (7) Federal Communications Bar Association Foundation; (8) Goodwin, Procter & Hoar; (9) Houghton Mifflin Company; (10) Hughes Aircraft Company; (11) Latham & Watkins; (12) Los Angeles Times; (13) The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; (14) Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company; (15) New York Daily News; (16) Pinkerton's, Inc.; (17) Primerica Foundation; (18) Taconic Foundation; and (19) The Xerox Foundation. Statement By Decker Anstrom President of NCTA Before the Education Caucus Washington D.C., July 31, 1996 Good morning. My name is Decker Anstrom, and I am President of the National Cable Television Association (NCTA), which represents more than 100 cable programming networks and most of the cable operators serving our nation's 63.7 million subscribers. Thank you for inviting me to participate in this morning's discussion on education. Cable operators and program networks understand that we have both a responsibility and an opportunity to help our nation's schools and teachers. Our industry has a long- standing commitment to education, and we have been acting on that commitment--not just talking about it. I would like to highlight two of the cable industry's major education initiatives for you today. cable in the classroom Cable's commitment to education is built on the foundation of Cable in the Classroom. Starting in 1989, cable companies have worked with school districts to make available high quality, educational, commercial-free television to schools and teachers. To date, 8,400 local cable operators have connected 75,000 schools nationwide to their cable systems-- for free (roughly 75 percent of all K-12 schools in the country). And 35 program networks provide 540 hours each month of quality, commercial-free programming--again, free of charge. Cable in the Classroom companies also supply teachers with instructional materials, curriculum supplements, and a monthly guide which identifies programs available for use in the classroom. All of the programming available through Cable in the Classroom is copyright-cleared and may be freely used, taped, and replayed by teachers in their classroom. cable's high speed education connection Just three weeks ago, on July 9, the cable industry announced its latest education initiative, ``Cable's High Speed Education Connection.'' Beginning this year, cable companies will introduce high-speed digital services to communities across the country. As these services are introduced, cable companies will equip at least one site in every consenting elementary and secondary school passed by cable in that community with a cable modem providing basic high-speed access to the Internet--free of charge. In many instances, individual cable operators may go beyond the industry's commitment and offer additional training, inside wiring of classrooms, enhanced information services, and extra equipment. Cable's new high-speed services will make a real difference--because teachers don't always have the time to wait for information to be downloaded through existing telephone lines. Cable modems are faster--they allow students and teachers to retrieve material from the Internet at a rate of 10,000 kilobits a second, hundreds of times faster than conventional telephone modems. Even the telephone companies' most advanced lines, ISDN, move data at only 128 kilobits a second. The speed of cable modems enables teachers to use Internet material in their classrooms, and reduces the ``fidget factor'' since kids don't have to wait for information to be retrieved. The power of cable modems was demonstrated here in Washington on July 9 at the launch of ``Cable's High Speed Education Connection.'' In the following video, Brian Roberts, President of Comcast, and several local school children experience first-hand the benefits of using high- speed cable modems to access the Internet. conclusion Mr. Chairman Cable in the Classroom and cable's new initiative, the ``High-Speed Education Connection,'' won't solve our nation's educational problems. But it is a contribution we can make. Deployment of cable modems won't happen overnight--we're in the process of inventing this new high-speed business as we speak--but the cable industry has made a start. And we will finish the job. Thank you for your interest in the cable industry's education initiatives. I would be pleased to answer any questions you might have. The Future Is on Cable Cable Television's Contributions to America's Children and Families, July, 1996 introduction The cable industry remains the clear leader in bringing a wide variety of quality children's programming to families and children. In addition to popular cable networks whose programming is completely devoted to children (Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, WAM! America's Kidz Network), more cable networks are responding to the call for quality children's programming by increasing their commitment to include extended programming blocks just for kids (The Disney Channel, The Learning Channel, The Family Channel); other networks continue to consistently offer educational and enriching programs for children as part of their regular programming format (Discovery Channel, The History Channel,

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana

Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?