How will the Biden administration manage a public school facelift? Is $100 billion enough? Will communities see a windfall of funding dedicated to this purpose? Will corporate partnerships help? Will Americans see it as an equity issue?
Covid-19 showed Americans the importance of public schools, but they still might not understand the crumbling conditions found in many of those buildings. How many teachers and students face substandard classrooms?
Epidemiologists and pediatricians continue to speak about classroom mitigation strategies like they’re easy, while teachers frantically describe sealed windows or classrooms with no windows. Overcrowded classrooms make safe instruction unthinkable. Lousy HVAC systems in schools became a national disgrace.
America’s schools have been allowed to deteriorate for years. Even newer school buildings have depreciated due to deferred maintenance. Powerful people want students to prove they can do well on tests, but they don’t consider how the conditions CONTINUE READING: Will America Invest in Public School Buildings, Finally?