Washington, DC--- Congressman Jim Himes (D-CT) helped pass legislation yesterday that would bring over $8.5 million to Fairfield County schools and create local construction jobs. The 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act (H.R. 2187) encourages energy efficiency and the use of renewable resources in schools to help create healthier, safer learning environments. The bill overwhelming passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 275-155.
“Improving schools will help us meet our goal of giving every child a world class education, which will lead to a world-class workforce and sustained American prosperity. “Investing in our schools to make them healthier and safer provides a better learning environment for our kids and creates good-paying jobs for construction workers now.”
Upgrading school buildings to make them more energy efficient and more reliant on renewable sources of energy will lower costs to taxpayers and can help reduce pollution to transition America to a clean-energy economy. Additionally, school buildings should be safe and healthy learning environments for children. The quality of a school isn’t just important for children’s health – it’s critical for their learning. But, according to recent estimates, America’s schools are hundreds of billions of dollars short of the funding needed to bring them up to good condition.
Under the measure, local schools would receive the following investments:
School District Funding
Bridgeport $5,889,000
Easton $14,000
Fairfield $120,000
Greenwich $190,000
Monroe $41,000
New Canaan $38,000
Norwalk $824,000
Oxford $33,000
Redding $15,000
Shelton $121,000
Stamford $1,089,000
Trumbull $77,000
Westport $66,000
Regional High School 9 $8,000
(Easton and Redding)
4thDistrict Total $8,525,000