School Finance 101: School Facilities Matter! In So Many Ways (How Could They Not?)

In this article, Baker, a Professor and chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of Miami, offers a conceptual model of how investments in school facilities influence working conditions, employee (specifically teacher) attitudes and behaviors, and student outcomes, including physical health and academic outcomes, and how investment in school facilities both directly and indirectly drives local housing and property values. The model, derived from the existing research on investment in school facilities, illustrates that investment in school facilities has both direct effects and indirect effects on student outcomes, and cyclical effects on local communities’ overall quality of life.