State of Our Schools Report: A Look at Facilities and Funding
As a member of the BASIC Coalition, Fast Growth School Coalition is pleased to share the latest State of Our Schools 2021 Report. BASIC is s non-partisan coalition of public school advocates and allies who support federal funding to help modernize and build K-12 public school facilities.
Public PK-12 school facility funding systems are highly local and decentralized, with no established federal interest or national data source on public school infrastructures. That’s where the 21st Century School Fund, the International WELL Building Institute, and the National Council on School Facilities -- all affiliated with BASIC Coalition - come in. Through an in-depth review of public financial data and field experience, this new report found a current facilities funding gap of $85 billion a year.
While school districts have been spending about an average of $110.1 billion every year on maintenance, operations, and capital construction, this is falling further and further short, leaving school districts unprepared to provide adequate and equitable school facilities. Proposed federal investment in rebuilding America’s schools has the potential to close the capital investment gap by about 22%.