October 10, 2011
Dear Senator:
The Committee for Education Funding (CEF), a coalition of 90 education associations and institutions from preschool to postgraduate education, is writing to express our strong support for S. 1660, the American Jobs Act of 2011. In particular, we support Subtitles B (Teacher Stabilization) and D (School Modernization) of Title II. We urge you to vote for cloture on S. 1660 and to pass the bill with these provisions.
The Teacher Stabilization program would provide $30 billion to save some 280,000 jobs of not just teachers but also other school employees, including counselors, social workers, school nurses, paraprofessionals, librarians, custodians and other educators. Without these funds students will be shortchanged by shorter school weeks, education program eliminations and unreasonable class sizes.
The School Modernization program would provide $25 billion in critically needed funds to improve learning conditions for students in some 35,000 public schools and $5 billion to expand and upgrade facilities and capacity at community colleges.
Our students deserve safe, healthy and modern school buildings. It’s hard for students to learn in schools with environmental hazards or lacking modern technology and science labs. School districts face an estimated $271 billion of deferred building and grounds maintenance. The average public school building is 40 years old with many far older. Chronic deferred maintenance and repair can lead to energy inefficiencies, unsafe drinking water, water damage and moldy environments, poor air quality, inadequate health and safety conditions, compromised building security, and structural dangers.