Rebuild America’s Schools was organized in 1997 following the release of the General Accounting Office Report documenting the incredible need in every state for improved school facilities. The GAO Report issued in 1996 estimated over $112 billion in unmet construction requirements for existing schools. Additionally, states and local communities also need to build new schools to meet rising enrollments. Subsequent estimates place total school facility needs including technology at over $300 billion.
Support for education and the schools in which our children learn is not a partisan issue. Leaders on both sides of the aisle in Congress care about what happens in our nation’s schools. This bipartisan interest should lead to a commitment of federal resources to help local communities invest in their schools and school facilities. As school districts across the country strive to meet the student achievement objectives of No Child Left Behind, the federal government should help states and local communities modernize America's schools. Modern, up to date, 21st Century schools enhance student achievement and success.
OUR TWO immediate objectives
- To work with the President and Congress to include federal financing to support state and local school facility and modernization efforts among the objectives and accomplishments of the 112th Congress.
- To continue to build and demonstrate public support for a federal partnership with state and local community efforts to finance the modern school facilities America’s school children must have to successfully achieve and succeed in the 21st Century.