Newswise Week1(09/28-10/04)
GOP halts bill with construction bonds Engineering News-Record - September 30, 2002
	Renewed House efforts to win federal funds for new school construction once again have failed. Earlier this month, GOP leaders pulled from consideration a fiscal 2003 appropriations bill covering the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education. At issue was an amendment by Reps. Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Nancy Johnson (R-CT) to provide $ 25.2 billion over two years for school construction bonds. The lawmakers have tried repeatedly to move the legislation. Opponents argued that the provision would have put the cost of the bill over the limits set by Republican leaders. Believing that the amendment had enough votes for passage, the GOP delayed consideration of the bill. Funds for the departments now are likely to be part of an omnibus bill.
California School Facilities, Public Buildings in Dire Need of Expansion, Updating, Repair; Dedicated Funding Needed Business Wire - October 3, 2002, Thursday
	California's school facilities and public buildings are in dire need of expansion, updating and repair, the nonprofit California Rebuild America Coalition (CalRAC) said today. The state Office of Public School Construction estimates that California will need to add 46,000 new classrooms -- the equivalent of 1,175 new schools -- to meet the demand created by 1 million new students expected to be added to enrollment rolls by 2010. Currently, over 2,000 classroom and construction repair projects have received approval but cannot break ground because the state's matching funds have run dry. Two new CalRAC "Focus on Infrastructure" documents include the following recommendations: -- Passage of the school bond measures on the ballot in 2002 and 2004; -- Promote construction of energy-efficient, environmentally friendly facilities that reduce heating and cooling costs as replacements for expensive, aging buildings; -- Aggressively pursue federal grants to help pay for school construction; -- Explore applying the 55-percent vote needed to pass school bonds to other types of public buildings; -- Explore innovative joint uses of facilities, such as making schools available to community organizations before or after classes -- as many districts have done -- and including commercial space in civic facilities.
School finance plans should look ahead Chapel Hill Herald - September 29, 2002, Sunday
	The need for a third high school in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro city school district is obvious enough that County Manager John Link and his staff are very well-advised to plan, as they have, for a finance shuffle that would enable one to be built. Link's plan is nothing if not ingenious. He suggests raising $ 27.8 million for a high school capable of accommodating 600 to 800 students by combining bond proceeds, school impact fees and "alternative financing" like the sales tax. The biggest increment - a little over 46 percent of the total package - would come by diverting to the project $ 12.8 million in bonds, until now ticketed for the system's 10th elementary school.
School plan’s tax impact estimated The Boston Globe - October 1, 2002, Tuesday
	The proposed $42 million school construction and renovation project would add about $150 to the tax bills for the average home assessed at $270,000. The revised plan, released last month by the School Building and Expansion Committee, calls for the construction of a new high school and for renovations to facilities throughout the district. The Finance Committee said there would be a 58-cent increase for every $1,000 of a home's assessed value over the 29-year life of the loan for the project. The latest plan is a scaled back version of one that was defeated by 28 votes in May. The proposal must receive support from at least two-thirds of Town Meeting on Oct. 16 to make it onto the Nov. 5 ballot. School officials said this project is necessary for the high school to maintain its accreditation and for the district to meet the growing enrollment. Enrollment is expected to increase by about 33 percent by 2013.
State policy favors new schools; Commission claims formula for funding renovation projects must be same for all The Columbus Dispatch - October 3, 2002 Thursday
	A state policy that recommends replacing aging schools rather than paying for expensive renovations is meeting new resistance as Ohio's $2 million-a-day school construction program moves into urban districts such as Columbus. The debate of new vs. renovated buildings is taking center stage as district officials -- well aware of the need to pass a levy providing the local share necessary to obtain vital state funding -- try to please both taxpayers and preservationists.
Time to enlist new forces to fight sprawl The Baltimore Sun - October 2, 2002 Wednesday
	SMART GROWTH, as practiced in Maryland, has reached its limits. There are now some controls over state support of sprawl. But the major facilities controlled by Smart Growth are new schools, and here the record is mixed. Eighty percent of the state school construction program is devoted to new buildings, and the program has grown tenfold since the end of Gov. Harry Hughes' administration in 1987. The state payment for each new building relieves counties of the financial consequences of the sprawl they permit. So the state subsidizes sprawl with one hand while seeking to prevent it with the other. A major weakness is that the program ignores the private sector. In fact, sprawl cannot be constrained unless development in populated areas is made easier.