BRAZIL '98 COMMITTEE
1630 Connecticut Avenue, NW. 4th floor
Washington, DC 20009
(202)667-7790
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Contact: Jason Haber
Deputy Press Secretary
667-7790

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 23, 1998

Brazil Announces Financial Plan for “Smart Schools”

Mayoral candidate Harold Brazil today set out in a yellow school bus to take his public school reform message to D.C. parents and voters.

Councilmember Brazil also announced three actions he will take as Mayor to finance and implement his six-point plan to bring D.C. public schools into the ranks of excellence. He will:

• Negotiate lease-purchase or lease-back agreements with private-sector developers to build and maintain new “Smart Schools” on vacant school property. With this approach, successfully used in Texas, Florida and California, new school construction could begin next year.
• Push for legislation to earmark 20% of D.C. lottery profits to finance the cost of the additional teachers that may be needed to reduce class sizes and provide school-based before- and after-school day care and enrichment programs, particularly in low-income neighborhoods.
• Designate a portion of any year-end budget surpluses to go toward reducing class size.

At a news conference at Eastern High School, Councilmember Brazil inaugurated what he called the “Brazil brigade bus,” that he will ride to criss-crossing the city to talk with voters about his public schools reform proposals.

The six-point plan, to be phased in over a five-year period, calls for rewards and incentives to assure better teachers and principals, smaller classes, annual “report cards” assessing school performance, improved alternative schools, expanded enrichment programs, and development of new “Smart Schools” on surplus school property.

“Eastern High School provides a dramatic example of why we must start now to implement the plan I have set forth,” he said. “Eastern has a proud history, many dedicated teachers and principals, and many hard-working students struggling to learn. There are approximately 1,100 students here in summer classes, 1,700 in the regular school year.

“The building is only partially air-conditioned, leaving many students to swelter in classrooms where the temperature must have been well over 100 degrees indoors during this week's heat wave. No one can expect students to concentrate and learn in such miserable conditions.

“Just a few blocks away, we have a prison. One of the first things our government required the new private prison operator to do was to get the air conditioning in working order. That’s fine — but if we are willing to provide air-conditioned cells for our prisoners, why in the name of common sense do we torture our young people with intolerable heat while they struggle to learn!”

The new “Smart Schools” Mr. Brazil has proposed would have efficient air-conditioning and heating systems, sophisticated security systems, and advanced computer technology, and would be smaller — with a maximum of 500 students — thus more manageable than large schools such as Eastern.

“While air conditioning is a basic requirement in our climate today, what is more important is building schools with all of the equipment necessary for every student to become skilled in using computer and Internet technology for research, lesson preparations, and creative exercises in mapping, design, music and the arts. In whatever field these young people choose to work, and whether or not they go on to college, computer skills will be essential for success in their adult lives,” Mr. Brazil continued.

“The public has responded with enthusiasm to the proposals I issued last month. We are beginning to build the public mandate that we need to establish education as our first priority and overcome the hurdles we are sure to face along the way.

“With this yellow school bus, the symbol of public schools, I am determined to take my education reform plan into every neighborhood of our city.”

He noted that his opponents initially questioned whether the District could afford the cost of reforming schools. “Anthony Williams, in particular, said we could not afford to reduce class sizes,” Mr. Brazil said. “But now, as a ploy to gain the endorsement of the Washington Teachers Union, he has promised not only smaller classes but also a teachers pay raise, over and above the 5% raise the teachers will get next year. It’s another example of Turnaround Tony, saying one thing one day and just the opposite when it suits his political agenda.”

Discussing his school reform financing proposals, Mr. Brazil said that, first, he will as Mayor immediately initiate work sessions with the elected School Board, the School Superintendent, the City Council, and the Control Board to determine an accurate cost and a reasonable time frame for phasing in each element of the plan.

He provided the following details of his three specific financing mechanisms.

• Negotiating lease-purchase or lease-back agreements with private-sector developers.

“With this approach generally, a private firm leases government property where it finances and builds schools; the government then leases back the property for 30 years and makes annual lease payments to the firm to provide maintenance services and pay off the construction mortgage. At the end of the 30-year period, the government owns the property free and clear.

“At least three states — California, Florida, and Texas — legislation authorizing such arrangements has been in place and has worked effectively for several years. In Texas, which has used this school- construction mechanism for five years, nearly a dozen new schools have been built. At least one — in Donna, Texas — came in $170,000 under budget.

“Public-private partnerships such as this are the fastest and most cost-effective means of getting new “Smart Schools” on line for our children. On Day One of the Brazil Administration, I will begin the negotiations for authorizing legislation, site selection, and school-construction agreements. New “Smart Schools” will be under construction in the first year of my administration.”

• Earmarking 20% of D.C. lottery profits for additional teachers to reduce class sizes and for before- and after-school care and enrichment programs, particularly in low-income neighborhoods.

“The D.C. Lottery last year generated $69 million in profits for the D.C. Treasury on $203 million in sales. Big PowerBall jackpots this year produced a surge in sales — $14 million between the March and May jackpots, with about $5 million going to the Treasury. Another big PowerBall jackpot this week is again producing a surge in sales.

“I will ask the City Council to pass legislation earmarking 20% of lottery profits for the public schools, and specifically for hiring the additional teachers that may be needed to reduce class sizes and for before- and after-school day care and enrichment programs. The earmarked lottery profits will be targeted toward implementing these reforms in low-income neighborhoods.

“Whether one agrees with the notion of a government-sponsored lottery or not, we have it, and it is a revenue-producer. It is often argued that lotteries are a form of regressive taxation, deriving most of their revenues from lower-income individuals. Lottery Board statistics bear that out.

“In 1997, lottery sales at outlets in the District's four lowest-income zip codes — in Wards 7 and 8 — totalled $49.9 million, or 25% of total sales citywide. Sales at outlets in the city’s four highest-income zip codes — in Wards 2 and 3 — totalled only $9.1 million, or 4.5% of total sales.

“The numbers show that low-income citizens generate most of our lottery revenues. The poor are providing far more than their fair share, and the benefits are distributed citywide. I am going to bring fairness to the system, and return 20% of the lottery profits to help ensure public school excellence for children in low-income communities.

• Designate a portion of any year-end budget surpluses to go toward reducing class size.

“As we continue to reduce the size of government and generate additional revenues that exceed budgeted spending, I will designate a portion of these additional revenues to reduce class size until we reach the level of no more than 20 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, with a goal of no more than 15 in kindergarten through third grade.

“Our budget analysts now project a Fiscal 1998 surplus of $231 million. I hesitate to use the term ‘surplus’ because we still have a substantial accumulated debt that we must pay down, and we have urgent needs to invest large sums in infrastructure. So I don't see this so-called surplus as ‘free money.’ But with the continuation of government downsizing and the continuation of economic growth in the region, we are likely to generate revenues in excess of operating costs over the next few years, and I am committed to using part of those funds to achieve the goal of smaller class sizes ”

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