Growth and Disparity: A Decade of U.S. Public School Construction

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of who has benefited from school construction spending nationwide. In this report, the Building Educational Success Together (BEST) research team examines the expenditures, accomplishments, and benefits received by students and communities. This report responds to the 1995 federal report by the General Accounting Office (GAO), which estimated that $112 billion was needed to bring the nation’s school facilities into good repair. Subsequent studies estimated that it would take more than $320 billion to build new schools to handle swelling enrollments, renovate aging buildings, and equip all buildings with the technologies needed to prepare students for success in the 21st century. By far, though, the most troubling finding was that the academically neediest students—minorities and impoverished students—were most likely to attend the most decrepit facilities. The analysis looks at the decade from 1995, when the GAO report was first released, to 2004, the most current information available. The authors found unprecedented spending and growth in school facility construction across the country, but this report confirms what many educators and communities have suspected for years: these billions of dollars spent on facilities have not been equally available to affluent and low-income communities, as well as for minority and white students. Overall, the schools in poor condition 10 years ago received the least investment in their facilities, even as the nation’s schools have seen record spending on school facilities. This report is a step in recognizing the tremendous opportunity and challenge of providing the highest quality education and the highest quality school buildings to all our children.

Authors: Mary W. Filardo, Jeffrey M. Vincent, Ping Sung, Travis Stein