Extending Secretary of Education Waiver Authority

EXTENDING SECRETARY OF EDUCATION WAIVER AUTHORITY -- (House of Representatives - September 27, 2006)

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Mr. JINDAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this important legislation. It is in response to the devastating Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the impact they had on the schools of Louisiana.

More than 1,100 public and private schools were forced to close in the wake of those hurricanes. Approximately 158,000 students were displaced as a direct result of the hurricanes. Restoration efforts are under way, but there is still much work that needs to be done.

As a result of the storms and the flooding, the local tax base in several gulf coast communities was decimated. The loss of business and government infrastructure, jobs and housing deprived school districts of local property taxes that normally fund school operations.

In Louisiana, Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes were the most severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina. Currently, approximately 23,000 students are enrolled in the Orleans Parish School System and Recovery School

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District. That is compared to an original enrollment of 62,000 students prior to the hurricanes.

In St. Bernard Parish, only 3,300 students have returned out of a total of 8,400 before the hurricane.

The Hurricane Education Recovery Act, included in the Defense Appropriations Act of 2006, granted the U.S. Secretary of Education the authority to waive, in many of the programs falling under her jurisdiction, select provisions having to do with the State or school district's financial commitment.

Under ordinary times, these provisions require States and local districts to contribute sufficient local and State funding to receive Federal aid. However, when communities have decimated and local funding is unavailable, these provisions can place much-needed Federal aid in jeopardy.

The Secretary's authority to grant this waiver was critical to ease the burdens on State and local educational agencies in the gulf coast region. Through this language, the Secretary granted waivers for fiscal year 2006 that provided Louisiana school districts the flexibility they needed to begin the recovery process.

These waivers have proven critical to the recovery of our schools in several parishes and counties in the impacted areas. Unfortunately, the waiver authority is set to expire on September 30 of this year, even though families continue to return to the area and there are schools in need of rebuilding.

This bill will extend this critical waiver authority for one more year through fiscal year 2007. By extending this authority, it will provide districts the flexibility they need to continue moving students and teachers back into classrooms.

Under the Hurricane Education Recovery Act, the Orleans Parish schools received $132 million in restart funding, and St. Bernard Parish has received $21 million. Without this waiver, the schools would not have the flexibility they need to use these funds.

These districts are facing the tremendous challenge of rebuilding a school district while continuing to operate at the same time, akin to changing a tire on your car while driving it. Without this waiver authority, these districts will not receive the resources to replace textbooks, library books, computers, instructional materials, and other supplies lost during the storm.

I urge swift passage of this legislation to grant an additional year of flexibility and the use of Federal dollars to rebuild schools for Louisiana and gulf coast children.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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