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>Date: Tue, 07 Sep 1999 14:20 -0400
>From: The White House <Publications-Admin who-is-at Pub.Pub.WhiteHouse.Gov>
>Subject: 1999-09-06 Fact Sheet on Urgent National Need for School
Construction
>To: Public-Distribution who-is-at Pub.Pub.WhiteHouse.Gov
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>Document-ID: pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1999/9/7/9.text.1
>URL:
>
http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1999/9/7/
9.text.1
>Delivered-By-The-Graces-Of: White House Electronic Publications
>Keywords: Civil-Rights, Communications, Computers, Disaster,
> District-Of-Columbia, Economy, Education, Fact-Sheet, Federalism,
> Fiscal-Policy, Foreign, Government, Healthcare, Infrastructure, Labor,
> Mid-Atlantic-Region, New-York, Security, Social, South-Region, Staff-Report,
> Technology, Virginia, Welfare
>
> THE WHITE HOUSE
>
> Office of the Press Secretary
>________________________________________________________________________
>For Immediate Release September 6, 1999
>
>|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
>| |
>| THE URGENT NATIONAL NEED |
>| FOR SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AND MODERNIZATION |
>| September 6, 1999 |
>| |
>|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
>
>
>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.
>
> # # #
>
>
Phil Graham
p.graham who-is-at qut.edu.au
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palms/8314/index.html