School Facilities: America’s Schools Not Designed or Equipped for 21st Century

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed whether America’s schools: (1) provide the key facilities requirements and environmental conditions for education reform and improvement; (2) have appropriate technologies and the facility infrastructure to support new technologies; and (3) have the physical capacity to support learning into the 21st century.

School officials in a national sample of schools reported that although most schools meet many key facilities requirements and environmental conditions for education reform and improvement, most are unprepared for the 21st century in critical areas. Most schools do not fully use modern technology. Although at least three-quarters of schools report having sufficient computers and televisions (TVs), they do not have the system or building infrastructure to fully use them. Moreover, because computers and other equipment are often not networked or connected to any other computers in the school or the outside world, they cannot access the information superhighway. Over 14 million students attend about 40 percent of schools that reported that their facilities cannot meet the functional requirements of laboratory science or large-group instruction even moderately well. Moreover, not all students have equal access to facilities that can support education into the 21st century, even those attending school in the same district. Overall, schools in central cities and schools with a 50-percent or more minority population were more likely to have more insufficient technology elements and a greater number of unsatisfactory environmental conditions—particularly lighting and physical security—than other schools.