States with facilities/captial funding lawsuits include Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, and New Mexico. The website of Arizona's School Facilities Board, which was created to administer the state's stystem by a capital-funding law passed after plaintiffs' victory in 1994, provides information on the state facilities system, including issues of technology, transportation, and necessary and appropriate facilities and equipment. Facilities have played an important role in other state adequacy cases, including those in Ohio and New York.

Facilities Funding After Lawuits

For more information on facilities cases and their aftermaths, especially in terms of funding, see a report by the ACLU of Maryland. The report details what Ohio, Wyoming, Arizona, and New Jersey have done to fund their public education facilities after law suits.

Reports on California Facilities

As part of the pre-trial process in Williams v. State in California, plaintiffs' attorneys commissioned reports on educational adequacy issues. Reports focusing on facilities include: The Condition of California School Facilities and Policies Related to those Conditions by Robert Corley, Independent School Facilities Consultant; The Effect of the Condition of School Facilities on Student Academic Achievement, by Professor Emeritus Glen Earthman, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; The Psychological and Academic Effects on Children and Adolescents of Structural Facilities' Problems, Exposure to High Levels of Under-Credentialed Teachers, Substantial Teacher Turnover, and Inadequate Books and Materials by Professor Michelle Fine, City University of New York, Graduate Center; and The Impact of the Physical Condition of School Facilities on Student's Short Term and Long Term Health by Professor Megan Sandel, Boston University.

For more information on Williams v. California, see the Decent Schools for California website.

Facilities News:

Mold Sickening Students, Costing Millions (November 2002)

On November 25, 2002, the Associated Press reported that schools nationwide have allergy-inducing mold in walls, carpets, and near ventilation systems. Some blame aging school buildings, but others says that recently built schools do not have adequate ventilation. Some administrators have been forced to close schools and make million-dollar repairs because of the mold.

States and Localities Embrace Construction Bonds (November 2002)

On Election Day, 2002, states, cities, and localities in nearly every state voted on propositions, amendments, bonds, and candidates that will affect the future of education funding across the country. The following are highlights from the facilities initiatives:

• Alaska passed Proposition C, a $237 million construction bond to benefit K-12 schools and the University of Alaska
• California passed Proposition 47, a $13.05 billion bond for school facilities projects
• Colorado voters passed construction bonds in 13 of 18 districts for a total of $816.5 million
• Cook County, IL voters rejected over a dozen school tax increases
• St. Paul, MN passed 4-year, $18 million per year levy
• Tennessee voters approved an amendment to the state constitution that provides for a lottery whose proceeds must pay for certain education programs; the state legislature is expected to establish the lottery
• Voters in the Houston Independent School District passed an $808.6 million construction bond
• All but three Virginia localities passed construction bonds

New Jersey Pushes to Create "Renaissance Zones" around Urban Schools to Prevent Flight (November 2002)

Governor James E. McGreevey of New Jersey has released a plan to create "renaissance zones" around newly built schools. The zones would include new or restored housing, recreation or community centers, and opportunities for economic growth. The proposal, unveiled in October 2002 as part of the governor's planning summit, is an effort to combine New Jersey's $8.6 billion school construction program with a plan for urban renewal.

Much of the construction money was ordered by the New Jersey State Supreme Court in its landmark Abbott v. Burke ruling. The decision said that urban schools were inadequately funded. As the remedy stage of the case proceeds, some lawyers and advocates have been taking about the urban school as the center of the urban community, which is often in need of a variety of extra-educational services.

The state is looking for five pilot sites and hopes to continue with another 10 or 15. Districts believed to be on the short list for pilot sites include Camden, Trenton, and Neptune.

BEST Initiative Launched to Improve Urban Schools and Their Communities (September 2002)

The 21st Century School Fund has launched the Building Educational Success Together (BEST) initiative to turn school buildings in urban communities into assets for educational success and community development and preservation. In its announcement of the initiative, BEST explained that it will work to: involve local communities in facility planning; make schools useable by their neighborhoods; ensure effective management and maintenance; and secure stable funding.

Now in its first year, BEST is focusing its initial efforts in Washington, DC, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, and Newark, Paterson, and Trenton, New Jersey.

BEST is a collaboration of the 21st Century School Fund, the Education Law Center (New Jersey), the KnowledgeWorks Foundation, the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Neighborhood Capital Budget Group, and Mark Schneider at SUNY, Stony Brook. The BEST initiative itself is funded by the Ford Foundation.

Research Correlates School Conditions with Student Achievement (November 2002)

In November 2002, the National Clearinghouse on Educational Facilities published a report
linking various school conditions, including air quality and temperature, to student performance.

The Clearinghouse study is one of the most detailed studies on school conditions to date. The connection between facilities and student achievement, although asserted by educators, has rarely been documented by researchers, but there have been two other recent research reports. The New York Times reported ("The Feng Shui of Schools" by Kate Zernike, Aug. 5, 2001) on research that has found certain school design features can promote teaching and learning and improve student behavior. More daylight, noise abatement, the color of walls and even seating arrangements apparently affect test scores and help students learn faster, according to the article.

See also "Daylighting in Schools", a report prepared for the California Board for Energy Efficiency.