ALBUQUERQUE — Leaky roofs, insufficient electrical outlets for modern-day classrooms, and poor cooling and heating are just some of the reasons New Mexico's teachers want Congress to restore money for school construction to an economic recovery plan that passed the Senate on Tuesday.

Representatives from teachers' unions say they support the efforts of New Mexico's House delegation to return to the measure $20 billion for school construction nationwide and to provide more funding for poorer students. There is no school construction money in the bill that cleared the Senate.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed the Senate on a 61-37 vote. It is on its way to House-Senate negotiations where Democratic Reps. Martin Heinrich, Harry Teague and Ben Ray Luján hope education funding will be restored.

"School construction puts people back to work, and funding to states to prevent education cuts keeps teachers in the classroom where they are able to prepare young people for the jobs of the future," Luján said in a news release.

New Mexico's senators, Democrats Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall, both voted for the recovery plan.

Charles Bowyer, executive director of the National Education Association-New Mexico, said restoring the school construction money could mean about $100 million more for New Mexico.

"Almost all the bond issues passed this year," Bowyer said. "Even in hard financial times, New Mexicans are still willing to tax themselves to build schools or improve schools. ... We hope that Congress is willing to see that and to follow suit."

Ellen Bernstein, president of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, said removing the school construction money "didn't make any sense."

"I can't believe that they would cut something as basic as decent learning conditions for kids in the public schools," she said. "... If their kids' schools were falling apart, I think that they would consider school construction important."

Both teachers groups have asked members to contact the state's congressional delegation to voice their support for education spending.

Udall said he would have liked to see more money for school construction and maintenance in the Senate bill. For example, he said the Gadsden School District in Southern New Mexico could use such money to clean up its water, which has high arsenic levels.

Bingaman said he disagreed with the elimination of the school construction funds, but said it was needed for the bill to pass the Senate.




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