SCHOOLS

Conditions

In the past five years, annual construction expenditures for elementary and secondary schools grew by 39% from 1990 and 1997, to a total of $24.7 billion. However, as of 1999 the U.S. Department of Education estimates that it will take $127 billion to bring the nation's school facilities into good overall condition, up from the $112 billion reported in ASCE's 1998 Report Card. The National Education Association (NEA) reports that the need is even greater, more than $268 billion.

Forty-five million students attend approximately 86,000 public schools in the United States. The average age of the nation's schools is 42 years. At the same time the schools are getting older, the number of students is growing, up nine percent since 1990. The Department of Education estimates that 2,400 new schools will be needed by 2003.

In many school districts overcrowding is a major problem. Economic growth in some regions of the country, and the resulting influx of workers, has created a surge in the number of school- aged children. Additionally, initiatives to lower teacher-student ratios have added to school crowding.

Many studies have explored the relationship between school conditions and achievement-related behavior. Most found varying degrees of relationships between school conditions and academic achievement. The bottom line is that students have a much harder time learning in schools that are unsafe or overcrowded.

About a quarter of schools report at least one type of onsite building in less than adequate condition, and four out of 10 reported at least one unsatisfactory environmental condition.

• Approximately one-fifth of schools have less than adequate conditions for life safety features, roofs and electrical power.
• Three-quarters of the nation's schools, or 59,400, report needing repairs, renovations or modernization in order to reach good condition.
• The average amount of repair or modernization needed per school is $2.2 million, or $3,800 per student.
• Annual construction budgets vary widely by state, from $934 per student in Nevada to $37 in Connecticut. The national average is approximately $473 per student or a total of $24.7 billion.
• The total national overall expenditure per student on primary and secondary education is $6,915 or $372 billion total.

School facility problems vary by location (urban versus suburban) and community characteristics (poor versus wealthy). Generally speaking, the largest portion of schools reporting deficient conditions are in central cities serving 50% minority students or 70% poor students. Schools in rural areas also tend to be inadequate.

While many problems cited include basic needs such as repairs for leaking roofs, plumbing, inadequate heating systems and the like, another fundamental problem is the limited infrastructure to support new technologies such as the Internet.

While the status of schools, and education in general, in the United States is a national issue, responsibility lies primarily at the local and state levels. Overall funding for education, including infrastructure, was divided 48% state, 45.4% local and six percent federal. The federal share of education funding has increased in recent years. For federal FY 2001, funding has increased for education by 17% to $108.9 billion.

For the FY 2001 federal budget, $1.3 billion was authorized for emergency school repairs but states may spend 25% of that money on other needs. Efforts to pass a bill that would provide federal tax credits to pay the interest on $24.8 billion in school construction bonds over two years were unsuccessful.

Policy Options

Efforts to repair, rehabilitate or modernize the nation's schools face numerous hurdles. The complex relationships between local school districts and state and federal governments are constantly evolving. Coupled with other serious problems faced by the nation's school systems, school infrastructure must compete for both attention and money.

Given that children are our most precious commodity, we should accept nothing less than the best conditions for our schools. ASCE strongly believes that governments at all levels should make primary and secondary education a priority, along with the resources to support the necessary infrastructure.

Specifically, ASCE supports the following recommendations:

• Expand federal tax credits to support increased use of school construction bonds.
• Continue and increase Federal grants for high-poverty, high-need school districts.
• Consideration of direct Federal funding for school construction.
• Encourage school districts to explore alternative financing, including lease financing, and financing/ownership/use arrangements to facilitate construction.
• Encourage school districts to adopt regular, comprehensive construction and maintenance programs.
• Increase emphasis on research and development for design and construction to meet the rapidly changing teaching environment.
• Establish a federal, multi-year capital budget for public works infrastructure construction and rehabilitation, similar to those used by state and local governments.
• Encourage the use of life-cycle cost analysis principles to evaluate the total costs of projects.

• U.S. Department of Education, Digest of Education Statistics, 1999, May 2000.
• Office of Education Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, Condition of America's Public School Facilities: 1999, June 2000.
• General Accounting Office (GAO), School Facilities: Construction Expenditures Have Grown Significantly in Recent Years, March 2000.
• National Education Association (NEA), Modernizing Our Schools: What Will It Cost, April 2000.
• NEA, School Modernization Facts, August 2000.
• Washington Post, Rebuilding America's Schools, April 25, 2000.
• ASCE Policy Statement 452 "Maintaining America's Schools," 2000.