New Report Estimates $200B Needed to Fix America’s Schools
ASCE Staff
After more than a decade, this week the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released an update to the Condition of America’s Public School Facilities report highlighting the condition of America’s school facilities. This report echoed the school facilities findings of the 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure and showed the estimated need to bring school facilities into good repair was almost $200 billion. The report also estimates that on average about $4.5 million will need to be spent per school needing repairs. While the needs are significant, the findings also highlighted some positive changes – 60% of the sampled schools reported to have long-range educational facilities plans and 39% of schools have major renovations and modernization work planned in the next two years. While the study represents only a sample of America’s schools, it is encouraging to see the U.S. Department of Education release this much needed data on America’s schools.
