How crumbling school facilities perpetuate inequality

Abstract

The average public school building was built around 1968 — more than 50 years ago — and the National Center for Education Statistics reports that half of all public schools in the United States need at least one major facility repair. Mary Filardo, Jeffrey Vincent, and Kevin Sullivan explain how poorly maintained school buildings have a negative effect on both student and teacher performance and health. Because local districts are responsible for funding their own building maintenance and upgrades, poor communities lack the resources to keep facilities in adequate shape, much less to modernize them, and needed repairs may be made using the same operating funds used to pay teachers and purchase instructional materials. The authors express hope that interest in infrastructure improvements at the federal level will enable schools to receive the funding they need.

The Space Beyond Equity: A Blueprint of Radical Possibilities in School Design

“…Since that time, news headlines seem to steadily call out the decrepitude of “crumbling” urban public schools in particular, most recently in relation to poor ventilation in aging school facilities as they seek to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 within their walls (D’Orio, 2020). Today, when it comes to understanding the nexus between race, education quality, and the built environment, research and advocacy focus heavily on inequitable funding and the harmful outcomes associated with poor facilities (Filardo et al, 2019; Kitzmiller et al, 2021; Uline et al, 2010). By detailing the objective conditions that often shape school quality in this section, I offer context for the wider contributions of this article and provide an alternative conceptualization of school spaces.…”

“…The model of Washington, D.C., where a coalition of parents, civic leaders, and other stakeholders was instrumental in securing over $5 billion to support school modernization and construction since the 1990s, is one that similar urban districts have sought to emulate (Rinde, 2021). But in order for funding equity to be achieved in a more systemic way, researchers have recommended greater oversight at state and federal levels (Filardo et al, 2019). Some states like New Jersey and Ohio have adopted more equitable funding models to ensure that resources are directed to communities that have the greatest facility needs (Rivera, 2017).…”

Impact of Maintaining Public University Buildings on Occupants and the Legal Consequences on Management of the Universities in Cross River State, Nigeria

“…Decades of research further confirms that the conditions and qualities of school facilities affect students, teachers, and overall academic achievement. In their review of the peer-reviewed literature, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health conclude that "the evidence is unambiguousthe school building influences student health, thinking, and performance" (Eitland et al 2017) as cited in Filardo, Vincent, & Sullivan [22]. This study was conducted among university students from the Faculty of Business and Management in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Perlis Branch and it has been involved with 217 students as respondents.…”

A Theoretical Framework for Studying Teachers’ Curriculum Supplementation

“…Textbook adoption is a process generally localized at the state or district level and has been portrayed historically as inefficient, ineffective, and sometimes corrupt (English, 1980; Farr & Tulley, 1985; Follett, 1985; Fordham Institute, 2004). Newer studies suggest that the process has become more teacher- and student-centered in recent years.…”