THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

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|                                                                      |
|                       THE URGENT NATIONAL NEED                       |
|              FOR SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AND MODERNIZATION               |
|                          September 6, 1999                           |
|                                                                      |

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Communities across the country are struggling to address critical needs to build new schools and renovate existing ones. School construction and modernization are necessary to address urgent safety and facility needs, to accommodate rising student enrollments, to help reduce class sizes, and to make sure schools are accessible to all students and well-equipped for the 21st century.

America's Schools Are Wearing Out

In January of 1999, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released an issue brief entitled "How Old Are America's Schools?" NCES reported that:

• The average public school in America is 42 years old, and school buildings begin rapid deterioration after 40 years.
• The oldest schools are also lagging behind other schools in the push to connect to the Internet. While almost 60 percent of schools built since 1985 were connected to the Internet by 1995, only 42 percent of schools in the oldest condition were connected to the Internet by the same year.

In 1995 and 1996, the General Accounting Office (GAO) released a series of reports on the condition of American schools. [GAO Report Number HEHS-95-61 School Facilities: The Condition of America's Schools] The GAO reports revealed:

• According to GAO estimates, it would cost $112 billion to bring the nation's schools into good overall condition.
• The average cost of construction for new schools is $8 million for elementary schools, and $16 million for high schools. [Council for Educational Facility Planners International, 1997]
• One-third of all public schools - about 25,000 schools - need extensive repair or replacement. In addition, about 60 percent of all schools (including some schools in generally adequate condition) report needing at least one major building feature to be replaced or extensively repaired. Over 28,000 schools have less-than-adequate heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems; over 23,000 schools have less-than-adequate plumbing; and over 21,000 schools have less-than-adequate roofs.

Enrollments Are Rising

On August 19, 1999, the President released the Department of Education's report entitled The Baby Boom Echo: No End in Sight. The report, which was based on NCES data, found that:

• Total public and private school enrollment will reach a record 53.2 million students this year. The 1996-97 school year was the first year that members of Baby Boom Echo broke their parents' record for school enrollment, and they have continued to enroll in the record-breaking numbers every year since then. In fact, it is expected that enrollment will continue to increase every year.
• Unlike the end of the "baby boom" of the 1950s and 1960s, we will have no respite from the current enrollment boom, as births will begin edging up from 4.1 million in 2008 to 4.5 million in 2018. The long-term implications of this immense wave of young people going to school require educators and community leaders to recognize that short-term solutions, symbolized by the ever-present portable classrooms in countless school yards, will not be sufficient for the task at hand.
• At least 2,400 new public schools will be needed by 2003 to accommodate rising enrollments and to relieve overcrowding, and thousands more will be needed in following years. [NCES, 1999]

School Conditions Have an Impact on Student Achievement

A growing body of research has linked student achievement and behavior to the physical building conditions and overcrowding. [Impact of Inadequate School Facilities on Student Learning] For example:

• A study of overcrowded schools in New York City found that students in such schools scored significantly lower on both mathematics and reading exams than did similar students in underutilized schools. In addition, students and teachers in overcrowded schools agreed, when asked, that overcrowding negatively effects both classroom activities and instructional techniques. [Rivera-Batiz and Marti, 1995]
• A study in the District of Columbia found that students in school buildings that were in poor condition had achievement 11 percent below students in schools in excellent condition and six percent below students in schools that were in fair condition. [Edwards, 1991]
• Another study of high schools in rural Virginia examined the relationship between building condition and student achievement. The study found that student scores on achievement tests were up to 5 percentile points lower in buildings with lower quality ratings, after adjusting for socioeconomic status. Lower achievement was associated with specific building condition factors such as substandard science facilities, air conditioning, classroom furniture, more graffiti, and noisy external environments. [Cash, 1993]

VIRGINIA NEEDS SCHOOL MODERNIZATION FUNDING

• Enrollment in Virginia over the last decade increased 14.8%. From 1998 to 2008 projected state enrollment in elementary and secondary schools is expected to increase by 62,000 students necessitating 2,480 additional classrooms. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data Survey and Projections of Education Statistics to 2008. Classroom calculation assumes 25 students per classroom.
• Virginia reports a $6.3 billion unmet school modernization need. Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Education 1995-96 School Facility Status Survey, July 1996.

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