1 Chapter 1

NATIONAL SURVEY OF THE PERCEPTIONS OF SELECTED SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS REGARDING THE QUALITY AND CONDITION, MAINTENANCE, AND IMPROVEMENT AND RENOVATION OF EXISTING PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES

Introduction

The quality and condition of existing public school facilities have been a topic of growing concern among educators across the country. Each year, the cost of maintenance, and improvement and renovation needed to maintain public schools continues to increase (Earthman, 1994). National studies conducted during the last fifteen years clearly indicate rising costs. In 1983, a random survey of school administrators in thirty-three states and the District of Columbia was undertaken by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). This study was also supported by the Council of Great City Schools and the National School Boards Association (NSBA). A previous study was completed twenty-three years earlier in 1960 by AASA. The 1983 report revealed that at least $25 billion would be needed to address facility maintenance, and improvement and renovation needs, not including funds needed for new construction (AASA, 1983). The study reported “ . . . schools throughout the nation, particularly those in the older inner cities, have deferred billions of dollars of repairs” (p. 13). Six years later (1989), the Educational Writers Association (EWA) published its study, Wolves at the Schoolhouse Door. This study analyzed information received from twenty-eight state departments of education and the District of Columbia regarding the quality and condition of public school facilities. The report from the study revealed that the price tag for maintenance, and improvement and renovation of these facilities had

2 climbed to $41 billion, not inclusive of funds needed for new construction purposes (EWA, 1989). Wolves at the Schoolhouse Door was followed by the