NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Congressman Bobby Scott toured Booker T. Washington Middle School in Newport News Friday, which he attended when it was an elementary school, to discuss the need to invest in America's school infrastructure.
A June 2020 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the state of school infrastructure — the agency’s first report on the subject since 1996 — found that 54 percent of school districts across the country must replace or update major systems in more than half their buildings.
"We found that there are serious deficits all over the country in terms of maintaining schools and building new schools, there’s too many people being taught in trailers, too many schools dilapidated, many schools are 40, 50, 60 years and older,” said Scott.
At Friday's event, Scott highlighted the Rebuild America's School Act of 2023. The legislation would invest $130 billion in grants and bond authority to help repair, replace and upgrade public school facilities.
"The money we’ll have available if the bill passes will have upgrades in terms of technology, upgrades in terms of ventilation systems, and other upgrades to make sure the children can have a safe and up to date place to learn,” said Scott.
Scott toured Booker T. Washington Middle School to see the recent facility renovations along with school leaders. Upgrades include an aquatics lab, classrooms for band and science, and a new gym- but principal Karen Bazemore-Person tells News 3- they still have more on the list.
“We need some upgrades to our tiling, things are breaking, and in our classrooms we need some updates there,” said Bazemore-Person. “There’s definitely room for improvement and areas that we would love to see happen, if it could happen tomorrow it would be great."
After the tour, Scott hosted a roundtable conversation with local elected officials, advocates and education leaders to discuss how federal investments in school infrastructure would support students' learning. They also discussed how to protect the health and safety of both students and staff.
