Rundown schools: whose responsibility?

AuthorDahlkemper, Lesly

ACROSS THE COUNTRY, SCHOOLS ARE DETERIORATING, EDUCATORS ARE WORRYING AND COURTS ARE PUSHING LEGISLATORS TO SOLVE THE MONEY PROBLEMS.

Leaky ceilings. Exposed wire. Crowded classrooms. Principal Kent Paredes Scribner has seen it all. These conditions are as commonplace at Sunland Elementary School as chalkboards and desks. Sunland Elementary, one of the oldest schools in the Phoenix area, has had few, if any, repairs since it was built in 1953. Originally the school was meant to serve 600 students. Now more than 800 students from primarily poor, minority families are enrolled.

"Crumbling buildings and cramped conditions do terrible things for the kids, their school spirit and their feeling about themselves," says Scribner. His school is located in the Roosevelt School District in south Phoenix. The amount of money it would take to fix it would virtually wipe out the district's $43 million annual budget. There's simply no money for repairs.

Even basic needs have gone unmet. Superintendent John Baracy says the district's 12,000 students don't have science labs or up-to-date libraries, and they have very little communications technology, unlike their counterparts in wealthier districts. Many older school buildings are not equipped with proper electrical wiring for computers, frustrating efforts to introduce technology into the classroom.

"Clearly, there's an impact on student learning," says Baracy. "You cannot learn science if you don't have science labs. You cannot expand your knowledge of the world if you don't have quality books to read."

CRUMBLING SCHOOLS

Schools like this in inner-city Arizona are not unusual. A U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) study released in 1996 revealed that one-third of schools nationwide need extensive repair or replacement. Further, 60 percent of schools surveyed reported at least "one major building feature" in disrepair such as the roof, exterior walls, windows, plumbing, heating and air conditioning or electrical power. Forty-six percent lack the basic electrical wiring to support computers, modems and modern communications. More than 14 million students attend the schools surveyed by the GAO.

The report, "School Facilities: America's Schools Report Differing Conditions," also notes that the problem of deteriorating school buildings cuts across all socioeconomic levels. While 38 percent of schools in urban areas reported at least one inadequate building, 30 percent of rural schools and 29 percent of suburban schools documented similar concerns.

"You may think this is a problem of the poorest districts in the country, but that's not so," notes U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun, a Democrat from Illinois. "It relates more to age than anything else." Braun, who commissioned the GAO report, sponsored successful legislation in 1994 that set aside $100 million for school building repairs. The program, however, was rescinded by the 105th Congress.

COST OF REPAIR

The estimated price tag totals a staggering $112 billion, according to the GAO. A state-by-state comparison reveals some startling figures. In New York City, officials in the country's largest school district estimate the cost to refurbish aging school facilities at $7.5 billion over the next five years. The bill for repairs and expansion in California's public schools climbs to $17 billion, a reflection, in part, of the state's soaring student enrollment.

Deteriorating schools in Virginia have some of the worst problems in the country. Experts estimate building improvements will add up to $6.5 billion over the next five years, affecting a million students in 1,800 public schools. A study by the Virginia Department of Education released last summer reports that even if local taxes were doubled, the revenue generated would not meet the cost of necessary school renovation.

WHAT HAPPENED?

The list of examples runs on, but a key question emerges: How did schools get to this point? Several factors consistently surface in interviews with educators, legislators and school finance experts: competing budget priorities, unfunded federal mandates, soaring student enrollment and outdated school financing formulas. Some critics also think administrators are exaggerating the extent of the problem. Other detractors lay the blame for deteriorating schools at the feet of local school boards, arguing some elected officials mismanaged public tax dollars and made poor budgeting decisions.

Arizona House Majority Leader Lori Daniels says that some school districts chose to construct lavish facilities and tie up all their resources in one school, thereby leaving themselves ill-prepared for future facility needs. Others, she says, chose to put capital maintenance funds in their operations budget, using the money for instruction instead of repairs.

Florida lawmakers have criticized school districts for using millions of dollars earmarked for school construction for such things as library books, audio-visual equipment and the salaries of maintenance workers.

These uses of school construction funds have triggered angry reactions from Florida lawmakers. "In the state of Florida, school...

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