Funding, Operation & Maintenance
School funding for physical infrastructure is primarily driven by local and state governments, with infrequent increases from federal sources during economic recessions, like 2008–2009’s recession and the downturn from COVID-19.
About $813 billion in total spending supported America’s public PK–12 schools in SY 2021–22, including $703 billion in operations expenditures and $79 billion in capital costs, with $22 billion in debt service and $9 billion in other programming. Capital costs represent less than 10% of total education spending, and capital budgets skew heavily toward new facilities rather than maintenance of existing infrastructure. Seventy-six percent of capital expenditures ($60 billion) was dedicated toward construction on new sites compared to 7% ($5.7 billion) in land and existing structures expenses. Equipment purchases cover the bulk of the remaining capital budget. Investments at this rate mean the upkeep of buildings is often underfunded and delayed, often to the point where full replacement is needed.
With most of the dedicated annual funds from federal, state, and local government used for school staff payroll and other non-facility operations, support for school facilities is often left to bond or tax measures voted on locally. Voters approved these measures at an average national rate of 76% recently, but approval rates vary greatly by state. In elections held within 2024, every single school bond measure passed in 13 states, but only 56% of those in Ohio and 14% of those in South Dakota cleared the threshold for adoption. Even in states with historically high school bond passage rates, the measures have unpredictable results, adding unpredictability to asset planning. The aforementioned Medina, ND, school expansion was delayed while officials regrouped after losing their first bond measure appeal to voters. In the Kansas City suburbs, Grandview C-4 School District won support from 71% of voters for a 2024 bond issue, partly because the measure did not increase taxes.
Ahead of SY21–22, the federal government delivered $24.2 billion in COVID-19 federal assistance funds. Federal investments into schools included the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security [CARES] Act of 2020, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations [CRRSA] Act of 2021, and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 [APRA]. Despite notable attention to HVAC system upgrade projects, only a tenth of that spending ($2.5 billion) went to capital expenditures. Other spending went to maintain safe operations with consumable goods like face masks and additional hiring. Many districts quickly increased their staffing to reduce learning loss during the pandemic. Some states prioritized facility spending more than others, with South Dakota allocating the most federal money to infrastructure and Nevada the least of the 21 states with publicly available data.
In Washington, D.C., the public school system began a facilities modernization process in 2000, and 70% of its square footage was modernized by 2021. The effort was successful because best practices for school facility management were written into District law, and annual appropriations funded facility evaluations. The school system’s asset management practices span from a high- level planning of facility needs through the management of real estate, maintenance of existing assets, construction of new buildings, and mindful disposal and repurposing of land.
Mindful asset management requires staffing dedicated to that purpose, and relatively few members of the education workforce have a portfolio in physical infrastructure. Of the 8 million Americans employed at K–12 schools in 2022, only 4% (300,000) worked in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance.
Change in Public School Enrollment between Fall 2019 to Fall 2021, by State
Need for Cooling Systems at American Public Schools, by County
