Dive Brief:
- In its quadrennial infrastructure report card, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave U.S. public schools a D+, rating 24% of them as being only in fair or poor condition.
- According to the report, state and local governments make significant investments in K-12 schools infrastructure, but there is still an annual $38 billion gap in funding for projects to meet the $112 billion threshold of investment needed.
- More than 53% of public schools need to make repairs, renovations and modernizations to be considered in “good” condition, and 12 states offer no direct support to school districts for capital construction costs while the federal government offers little to none.
Dive Insight:
The nation has massive infrastructure needs and projects to upgrade roads, bridges, levees, dams, and schools are all in competition with each other for minimal funding. President Donald Trump has pledged $1 trillion for infrastructure, but he has not said how much of that money might go toward schools or where, exactly, the money will come from.
In Detroit, families have levied a lawsuit against the school district, arguing that deplorable building conditions violate students’ rights. In Illinois, districts are getting special exceptions from state legislators to go deep into debt for infrastructure improvements. Something has to give.