Republican politicians are always complaining that public schools are not efficient enough. They use this complaint as an excuse for cutting off the funds that public schools need to give American children an adequate education.
Yesterday, the Democrats in Congress called the Republicans’ bluff. You want efficient public schools? Good. Congressman Ben Chandler, who is very far from liberal, had introduced H.R.3021, the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act. The proposed law would encourage public schools to run efficiently.
No more money-guzzling out of date school buildings. No more safety hazards for American children. The legislation would provide an investment in energy-efficient, healthy, technologically-updated schools. That way, taxpayers would save huge amounts of money on their property taxes by not having to pay so much on energy costs for schools at a time when the price of energy is shooting through the roof.
Under this law, more money would go toward quality education. Less taxpayer money would go to just keeping children warm in the winter, or to protecting schoolchildren in the South from record-breaking heat. For a small national investment in efficient schools, taxpayers around the country would get huge savings for an entire generation to come.
This legislation does exactly what Republicans say they want to do. It makes public schools more efficient. In fact, the bill makes such plain sense that 27 Republican members of the House of Representatives crossed the aisle yesterday to vote in favor of it. Thanks to them, the bill passed, and will become law if passed by the Senate. Those Republicans voting in favor were:
Sadly, 164 Republicans in Congress actually voted against making public schools more efficient. They voted against the bill. The names of these short-sighted members of Congress are:
Sad, but typical.
No surprise C.W. Bill Young voted in lockstep with Bush Republicans. That’s why we’re excited at the chance to unseat him with grassroots revolutionary Ms. Samm Simpson (http://www.sammsimpson.com) She’s for dumping No Child Left Behind and FCAT and this bill would have fit perfectly with her platform of greening up our infrastructure and breaking our dependence upon oil and coal.
Federal government envolvment in education is Unconstitutional.
bluecollarrepublican.com
Having “public schools tha give American children an adequate education” and having “green facilities” are two different things.
I’M PLEASED THAT THESE LAW MAKERS VOTED AGAINST THE BILL.
Spending tax money to have “green facilities” does NOT equate to “giving childred an adequate education!” Use that money to provide for “QUALIFIED” TEACHERS to teach ENGLISH, AMERICAN HISTORY, MATH, etc., not just babysitters for the classroom.
I see quite a few Republicans voted against this bill including our very own Bill Young. Shame on you Bill Young! Perhaps we could get you to vote for this if you had your sons in the public school system.
One more reason to vote for Samm Simpson for Rep in District 10.
Elaine
Mickey, you spammer, that’s only true if you don’t believe that education is in the “general welfare”. Perhaps some extremist Republicans like yourself really believe that education is against the general welfare, but the rest of us don’t. The Constitution clearly gives Congress the power to act in the interest of the general welfare of the country.
Have you actually read the Constitution, Mickey?
Norma, that’s very short-sighted of you.
Green buildings save local taxpaers money. Green buildings save school districts a huge amount of money that they’re frittering away on energy otherwise. That money can be returned to local taxpayers AND be used to hire quality teachers.
Republicans who voted against this bill are voting against efficiency, against spending money on teachers, and against lowering taxes.
How could you apologize for them?
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