WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House has voted to devote more than $20 billion to make the nation’s schools more environmentally friendly.

The 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act will retrofit and build green schools to be more energy efficient and provide a healthier environment for students. The legislation will now move to the Senate but the White House may veto the bill because of the price tag.

The bill could dedicate about $6.4 billion to green America’s schools beginning in 2009. Participating schools would have to meet either LEED, Energy Star or Collaborative for High Performance Standards.

The Bush administration believes the bill would overstep its bounds into states’ jurisdiction of education.

"The Democrats' massive $20 billion 'green scheme' would place faceless Washington bureaucrats in charge of priorities historically and best handled by states and local school districts," House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio told the Associated Press.

Democrats, however, see the bill as a chance to improve the learning environment for the nation’s children.

“(It will) not only save them energy, not only will make the facilities safer, cleaner and better for the learning environment these children need, it will also dramatically change the cost of running a school district,” George Miller (D-Calif.), Education and Labor Committee Chairman, told the Associate Press.