Public school facilities are inequitably funded
Public school districts rely heavily on local taxes to fund their buildings. On average, states fund only 22% of the cost of school construction and modernization. 11 states pay nothing. Worse, the federal government pays around 1%, one-third of this federal funding was from FEMA to fix schools following a natural disaster.
All that translates into a capital construction annual gap of $57.4 billion between what communities should be spending to modernize their schools — and what they can afford.
Funding for Capital Construction
Source: State of Our Schools 2021
Heavy reliance on local funding means wealthy communities tend to have good school buildings, while many poor communities do not. For example, despite the enormous progress in expanding technology to America's schools, many rural schools currently lack high-speed broadband that meets national standards.
It's no wonder the American Society of Civil Engineers graded America's School Infrastructure a D+.