Right to an Education and the Plight of School Facilities: A Legislative Proposal

This paper discusses the inequities in school facilities and how the court system has debated the extent to which students have a right to adequate facilities under constitutional and legislative mandates. It highlights how public school facilities are an often-overlooked aspect of public education financing mechanisms. Several states lack a specific fund for constructing or maintaining facilities, and those that do maintain these funds often allocate inadequate resources relative to the scope of construction and renovation projects. In addition to underfunding by states, the federal government is scarcely involved in public school facility financing, while localities often have insufficient revenue opportunities to meet funding needs through their own tax bases. The result of this lack of coordination among levels of government is a staggeringly underfunded system of public school facilities, with some estimates placing nationwide construction and maintenance needs at over five hundred billion dollars. These poorly maintained school facilities detract from teacher retention, student learning, and the physical health of building occupants. Furthermore, state and federal courts have deliberated over whether, and to what extent, students have a right to adequate facilities under constitutional and legislative mandates. Although education is considered a police power and therefore a function and responsibility of state governance, the budget capacity of most states is vastly outstripped by the resource needs of the facilities within those states. Therefore, any hope that future generations of children will attend adequate and equitable school facilities relies on an aggressive program that involves all three levels of government to secure the monetary resources that our schools require.