House Approves Legislation to Modernize and Green America's Schools

On May 14, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation to modernize, upgrade and green America's schools by a vote of 275-155. The 21st Century Green High Performing Public School Facilities Act (H.R. 2187) invests billions of dollars in school repair and renovation projects that would create safer, healthier and more energy-efficient learning environments for students. The bill would authorize $6.4 billion for school renovation and modernization projects for fiscal year 2010, and would ensure that school districts quickly receive funds for projects that improve schools' teaching and learning climates, health and safety and energy efficiency. The measure distributes funds by allocating the same percentage of funds to school districts that they receive under Part A of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, except that it guarantees each such district a minimum of $5,000. Below are estimates of the amount of funding that each state and school district would receive to modernize, upgrade and repair school facilities under the Act, as calculated by the Congressional Research Service: Click here to download state-level data (PDF, 10KB) Click here to download school district-level data (PDF, 775KB) For more information, please contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.