Addressing Our Nation’s Toxic School Infrastructure in the Wake of COVID-19

The commentary argues that we need to address the wide variance in school building quality under and after COVID-19. Evidence suggests that historical underinvestment in school facility capital and maintenance has created unhealthy school buildings across the nation. Federal funding and research is necessary to ensure that schools are healthy places for educators, families, and youth even after the pandemic ends.

How Much Does Public School Facility Funding Depend on Property Wealth?

We examine how funding for public school facilities varies with school district property wealth and household income. Using data on school facility (i.e., capital) funding in California from fiscal years 1986-87 to 2015-16, we find that funding for school construction and modernization varies widely across districts. Disparities in funding are driven primarily by inter-district differences in property wealth with the highest property wealth districts raising significantly more funding for school facilities. Assessed value per-pupil in California is also negatively correlated with the share of disadvantaged students and students of color. As a result, school facility funding tends to be substantially lower in districts with the highest concentrations of disadvantaged students and students of color.

Effect of School Facilities Utilization on the Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in Wukari Metropolis, Taraba State, Nigeria

This paper investigated the utilization of school facilities as they affect students’ academic performance in Wuakari metropolis of Taraba State. An ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study. The population of students comprise those who completed JSS3 between 2014-2017. Data for the study were collected using a School Facility Utilization Questionnaire (SFUQ) and School Facility Provision Checklist (SFPC). The results of the student were obtained from the State Ministry of Education. The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive analysis while t-test was used to test the hypothesis. The findings revealed that 17 out of the 25 schools are inadequately equipped. The finding also revealed that there is sufficient utilization of facilities by teachers and students. It recommended that government and relevant stakeholders should ensure adequate provision of school facilities and put in place supervisory measures for their utilization.

How Do School Facilities Affect School Quality? Case Study in Vocational High School at Pati, Indonesia

The study aims to determine about how does school facilities affect school quality at vocational high school in Pati, Central Java, Indonesia. The approach and methods used in the study was evaluation research using a discrepancy model. The data were collected by observation, interview, and documentation. Meanwhile, the analysis used interactive model by Milles and Huberman. The results showed that the school facility at vocational high school in Pati is up to standard of Regulation of National Education Minister Number 40 Year 2008. The value of school infrastructure is 72.5% or adequate category, while school facility is 84.3% or adequate category. School facilities become one of the factors in supporting student learning achievement and teacher performance. Therefore, learning achievements can be improved through improved the school facilities. Thus, it is able to improve the school quality. Keywords: school facilities, discrepancy model, school quality, learning achievement