Statement of Jerry Grayson,
Regional Director, Detweiler Foundation Computers for School Program

Testimony Before the House Committee on Ways and Means

Hearing on Reducing the Tax Burden:
II. Providing Tax Relief to Strengthen the Family and Sustain a Strong Economy

June 23, 1999

Mr. Chairman, Honorable Committee Members, Staff and Guests:

Thank you for the privilege of addressing you on what I consider legislation important to the country's future.

My name is Jerry Grayson. I am regional director for the Detwiler Foundation Computers for Schools program. That means I develop our computer donation program in states and communities across the country.

The Detwiler Foundation began in 1991 when John, Carolyn and Diana Detwiler recognized the opportunity to put business computers being retired to use in schools--places where the level of technology continues to lag significantly behind the business standard. Computers for Schools started in California and, beginning in 1997, has been branching out to partner with organizations across the country. Unofficially, we are the nation's single most productive source of donated computers to schools. We have facilitated donations of more than 56,000 computers in 27 states.

The 21st Century Classrooms Act, part of the Tax Relief Act of 1997, was an attempt to enhance those donations with more and newer technology. It provides businesses with an enhanced tax deduction for donation of equipment two years old or less. We are among the many students, parents, teachers and friends of education most grateful to Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham for his sponsorship of this far-sighted legislation and his championing of better technology in our schools.

Unfortunately, the promise of the Act has not been fulfilled. We at Computers for Schools have received more than a thousand calls regarding the Act and have worked with dozens of companies eager to put it to use. Most could not for two primary reasons: the two-year provision did not fit their equipment use cycle and the deduction enhancement did not provide significant incentive. In general, a business buys a computer with a three-year life cycle in mind.  Asking business owners to donate equipment before that cycle is complete essentially asks them to take a loss on their equipment investment. Many in a position to donate--those with accelerated equipment use patterns--still found that the deduction provisions in the Act did not adequately compensate them for the loss of revenue they could receive by getting a fair market price for the machines.

Before us today is the New Millennium Classrooms Act, which builds on the foundation laid by Congressman Cunningham's initial work. It is our opinion at Computers for Schools that the New Millennium legislation will take us closer to accomplishing the intent behind the 21st Century Classrooms Act. Several elements of the bill are key in this regard; it expands the window through which donations can be made from two years to three and it provides for a more straight-forward tax credit for eligible donations. Additionally, this credit--30 percent for donations for unspecified direction--will rise to 50 percent when the donation is designated for enterprise or empowerment zone schools. This legislation also helps us expand the group of eligible donors and thus raises the potential for the significant donations intended.

I would like to repeat something I said in opening my testimony; this is important legislation. Through the breadth and depth of our experience at Computers for Schools we have seen the kind of difference computer donations can make in our schools. But perhaps that is best illustrated by the experience of students who have been the recipients of donated computers.

Ladies and gentlemen of the committee, the legislation you are considering has the power to alter lives. I don't have to tell you we live in a world increasingly dependent on technology. Our children must be prepared for that world as thoroughly as is within our power. This is about life options--the ability and capability of students to make positive choices about who they are, what they can do and who they will become. When we have the opportunity to provide them the resources needed to make those positive choices, and we don't, we have stifled their futures.

The New Millennium Classrooms Act helps open those options. The case for computer-aided teaching and its positive impact on academic achievement grows stronger every day. Just last week in testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, Secretary of Education Richard Riley emphasized the importance of technology in education. He noted that with an expectation of 70 percent growth in computer and technology-related jobs in the next six years, students who can use technology effectively will be in the best position to build rewarding careers and productive lives.

With this trend as a backdrop, consider that children from lower income areas and many disadvantaged minority children--children less likely to have computers at home--are unfortunately also less likely to have computers in their schools. For example, schools with 81percent or more economically disadvantaged students, as defined by federal education Title I eligibility, have one multimedia computer for every 32 students while a school with less than 20 percent economically disadvantaged students will have a multimedia computer for every 22 students. Schools with 90 percent or more minority students have one multimedia system for every 30 students. Additionally, just over 50 percent of the schools with 70 percent or more poor students have Internet access compared to nearly 80 percent of schools which have less than 11 percent lower income students.

Now consider that the very students with the least technology available to them are the ones who can be helped most by its use. This was borne out by a recent City University of New York study that noted dramatic increases in test scores for disadvantaged students once computer-aided instruction was introduced or increased in their curricula. Computers are patient, persistent and operate with total equanimity. These characteristics have special relevance for disadvantaged youth growing up in tough, often less-than-nurturing surroundings. These are also the very youth helped most by this legislation because of its incentive clause to encourage equipment donations where they are needed most--to enterprise and empowerment zones. The New Millennium Classrooms Act is an act of empowerment.

Even outside the target zones delineated in the bill, our schools stand in dire need of technology upgrading. Depending on which figures you look at, students-per-computer ratio across the country can be as low as ten or eleven to one. That's about ten students for each computer. But that ratio includes millions of woefully substandard machines; 386's, 286's, Apple IIe's, even old 8086's and Commodore 64's. The best that can be said about these systems is that they're a step above typewriters, but even that statement is suspect. Getting serious, up-to-date education software installed on any of these or, in many cases Internet access, is out of the question.

While that ten-to-one ratio of students per computer may sound promising, it needs to be put in another context. Statistics by the Educational Testing Service show a much lower students per computer ratio of 24 students to one multimedia computer. Multimedia computers are the type that provide adequate access to the Internet and to the kind of software that teachers find useful as teaching tools. Keep in mind that the students-per-multimedia computer ratio increases to 32 to one for lower income school districts, and the Department of Education recommends that the optimal ratio of students per computer is five to one.

The New Millennium Classrooms Act would spur the donation of nothing older than Pentium II generation technology. This raises the bar in our schools where the average machine today is the 486SX processor, circa 1990. If enacted, New Millennium accepts nothing built prior to 1997 and keeps that standard moving forward with the calendar.

In addition to its direct impact on teaching and learning, this bill provides other benefits to help us better prepare for the next century.

The Rand Institute estimates it will cost about $15 billion to provide U.S. schools with the technology necessary to educate our children for the future. The New Millennium Classrooms Act helps us stretch the funds available, providing more opportunities for other critical technology needs such as teacher training and curricular software.

As we approach a preferable level of technology in our schools, this bill lets us do so in a cost-effective manner--easing pressure on federal and state budgets. I want to be clear; we do not advocate this legislation as a replacement to state and federal technology expenditures. This is, however, a way to limit the inflation of that spending. Many of you have already noted that a time of better budget health is also a time to be more mindful of spending. From a cost-benefit perspective, New Millennium helps keep the pulse of spending more even and secures more for less in the process.

New Millennium also triggers more business interest and involvement in our communities and our schools. I am not here to discuss the extent and nature of that involvement--that is for local schools and communities to decide. But the Act gives businesses another tool through which they can contribute to their communities. In the process those businesses are not penalized financially and, when they concentrate their giving on empowerment and enterprise zones, they may--I emphasize may--they may see a slight benefit. The Act also encourages the most environmentally sensitive of recycling options re-use.

This Act also has Welfare to Work and workforce development implications. In our work, Computers for Schools is partnered with numerous refurbishing facilities where trainees are the chronically underemployed or unemployed. To give one example, our donations in New Jersey, which go through four state community colleges, are refurbished and outfitted for schools by former welfare recipients. They are learning skills that can move them so far ahead it turns welfare checks into distant specks in their rear-view mirrors.

Other trainees through our program include inmates at correctional facilities, students in vocational and technical schools and those in high schools and even middle schools. For all of them, the equation is the same; exposure to the latest technology only enhances their training, making them more ready for key certifications such as A+ and MCSE or Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. These skills are in high demand. They can make the transition from welfare to work, or crime to work, permanent. But it doesn't happen without the opportunity.

As we see it at Computers for Schools, opportunity is what the New Millennium Classrooms Act is all about. First and foremost, it opens a world of opportunity to students and teachers in the classroom. It gives local, state and federal budget makers the opportunity to extend their tight dollars. For business, it's an opportunity to contribute to students and communities without being penalized in the process. And we have just noted how this legislation can help trainees.

In every case we are talking about the impact this Act can have on people's lives. Our children face a daunting world of constant change. It's the least we can do to give them all the positive tools at our disposal to help them meet that change. The New Millennium Classrooms Act does that.

Thank you.