The State of Our Schools

• In Event: Schooling in the Anthropocene: Research Perspectives and Policy Priorities

Abstract

Research increasingly demonstrates that the quality of school building infrastructure meaningfully affects learning conditions that are key predictors of student success. Studies show that improving educational facilities can positively influence various student outcomes, such as attendance rates, disciplinary rates, and academic performance, as well as educator job satisfaction and retention—factors that themselves ultimately impact student learning (Sorenson et al., 2024; Gilraine, 2023; Neilson & Zimmerman, 2014; Buckley et al., 2004a; Buckley et al., 2004b; Batterman et al., 2017). Upgrading heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems represents a particularly important approach for addressing deteriorating climate conditions, both through better filtration of harmful airborne contaminants (Gilraine, 2023) and by maintaining indoor temperatures that support effective learning (Sorenson et al., 2024). At the same time, aging school buildings and those already experiencing structural problems face heightened risk of damage from extreme weather events (EPA, 2025; Marvel et al., 2023; FEMA, 2017).

Contextualized by the close relationship between school infrastructure and vulnerability to worsening climate events and conditions, this paper presents a deep dive into the aging infrastructure in many U.S. school buildings. Specifically, the paper describes findings from a longitudinal analysis of what school districts spent, invested, and borrowed for their public school facilities, combined with industry metrics for building depreciation and cost of new construction, to provide insight into the condition of public school buildings and grounds. The paper includes financial projections for 25 years of public capital and operating funding that will be needed to provide modern public school buildings and grounds by 2050. It also describes the structural system shortfalls across the U.S. for funding capital projects at the local, state, and federal levels. The paper’s findings are crucial to informing policy recommendations and generating a research agenda related to needed climate-related school infrastructure improvements and how to finance them.

For the longitudinal data analysis, researchers created a relational database of 27 years of publicly reported fiscal data, school and district inventory data, and demographic and enrollment data from U.S. Census of Governments F-33 Fiscal Survey of Local Governments; the Common Core of Data from the National Center for Education Statistics; and nearly 17 years of Small Area Income and Population Estimates (SAIPE) data from the U.S. Census. A crucial building metric, not included in any federal collections, is the actual size of school buildings in gross square feet, as well as grounds in acres. Researchers are also compiling data collected from states on the gross square footage of facilities and the current replacement values for new construction.

In addition to describing the above data, the presenter will also show how these data can be combined with other academic, climate, geospatial, and economic data sets to help researchers and policymakers better understand facility quality and conditions as they relate to climate change and climate resilience, as well as related indicators like health, student mobility, population mobility, economic development, and equity.

Author

• Mary Filardo, 21st Century School Fund