Improving the learning environment for school students is the focus of bipartisan legislation sponsored by a Republican lawmaker. House Bill 1044 was unanimously approved by the House of Representatives on Thursday.
Representative Joel McEntire is author of the legislation that would provide construction grants to small schools in need of financial assistance.
“It’s difficult to learn in substandard environments and so this bill has required the work of many, many people to come up with a new – not only a prioritization of which projects we’re going to work on, but also a proper balance on how we’re going to fund these projects using not just the state, but also local investment as well.”
Supportive of McEntire’s legislation was Representative Jacquelin Maycumber of Republic.
“This past week I went to a basketball game and there was a bucket and you had to walk around it because the roof was leaking at the school. There’s definitely an unequal representation of education when you have kids freezing – trying to learn and it’s negative-20 and there’s no heat. Madam Speaker, this is not equitable in education. We need to do better.”
The measure now goes to the Senate for further consideration.
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