This national report provides an overview of research on the impact and importance of public school facilities to education, health, the environment, communities and resiliency. It analyzes facilities spending and investment in the years from FY09 following the great recession to FY2019. The State of our Schools 2021 was conducted by the 21st Century School Fund in partnership with the National Council on School Facilities and International WELL Building Institute.

[Re]Build America's School Infrastructure Coalition makes the case for the need for investing in resilient public school infrastructure. This brief report also looks at an appropriate federal role in making our nation's schools resilient.

In January 2018, Cooperative Strategies, in partnership with the 21st Century School Fund and the Urban Institute, was contracted by the Office of the D.C. Auditor (ODCA) to provide a Study of Enrollment in D.C. Public Schools Including Current Methodology and Future Projections, as requested by D.C. Council-member Mary Cheh (Ward 3).

This report builds the case for federal funding for school infrastructure.

Following 12 months of work, this report contains the Advisory Committee’s recommendations on each of the eight issues and a suggested roadmap for the state’s role in school facility funding going forward. The report also provides basic information about Arkansas public school facilities and describes the progress made to deliver adequate and equitable public school facilities since 2004, when the Arkansas Public School Academic Facilities Program was established. Additionally, the report provides an estimate for what is needed to ensure adequate and equitable public school facilities in Arkansas over the next five years. The 21st Century School Fund worked with the Advisory Committee in the work of this report. On April 3, 2017, Act 801 was approved by the Arkansas General Assembly and Governor Asa Hutchinson requiring the Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation use an advisory committee to do a comprehensive review of academic facilities programs. Eight specific issues for review were identified: 1. Long term viability of the program 2. Efficacy of the academic facilities wealth index 3. Project ranking and prioritization process of partnership program 4. Program funding cycles 5. Enrollment projections 6. Cost factors 7. Rules governing academic facilities programs 8. Degree of public school district compliance with Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS)

There are 55 priority actions identified to address the systemic problems of delivering adequate and equitable public school facilities. These priority actions will support the essentials of a comprehensive local, state, and federal system for adequate and equitable PK–12 infrastructure. They were synthesized and selected from 200 solution ideas generated through our process and are considered to have the greatest potential for development, replication, and scaling.

State of Our Schools provides a state and national analysis of 20 years (FY1994-2013) of maintenance and operations spending and capital construction investments. It provides a standards framework for what is needed for K-12 public school facilities in the future. This report is a joint project of the 21st Century School Fund, National Council on School Facilities, and the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council.

This white paper provides the conclusion of the 21st Century School Fund and JFW, Inc. inquiry into and analysis of Wyoming's current programs for managing and funding its K-12 public school facilities. The Wyoming School Facilities Department engaged 21CSF and JFW, Inc. to provide an independent analysis of the state's current building portfolio database; professional opinions on facility management best practices for the preservation of Wyoming school buildings in the areas of facility operations, routine maintenance, major maintenance, and capital renewal; and information about pertinent practices of other states.

The 21st Century School Fund and the Center for Cities & Schools have released a new paper, A Policy Framework for Joint Use: Enabling and Supporting Community Use of K-12 Public School Facilities. Joint use of public school facilities is a complex but manageable approach to efficiently enhancing the services and programs available to students and supporting the community use of public schools. Building upon on their 2010 paper titled Joint Use of Public Schools: A Framework for a New Social Contract, the authors provide policy guidance for harnessing the opportunities and benefits of joint use.

The School Facilities Cost Calculator is pre-loaded with rich data from 15,000 school districts and provides step-by-step guidance in crafting an effective, transparent joint-use policy. This easy-to-use, adaptable calculator helps school system leaders: 1) Identify all facility-related expenditures in their district 2) Calculate the full cost of ownership on a per square foot and per hour basis 3) Formulate a multi-tiered fee structure for different types of community users.

This report released March 12th was prepared by the 21st Century School Fund for the USGBC’s Center for Green Schools. The report estimates that $542 billion is needed to modernize and bring our nation’s school buildings up to working order. One of the recommendations of the report is for congress to commission a new GAO study on America’s School Facilities. The last GAO study was completed 18 years ago in 1995.

In Californias K-12 Educational Infrastructure Investments: Leveraging the States Role for Quality School Facilities in Sustainable Communities, the University of California, Berkeleys Center for Cities and Schools provides an analysis of the states K-12 infrastructure policies, regulations, and funding patterns. Findings reveal the need to greatly refine school facilities planning and funding policies and practices to promote sound, efficient, and goal-oriented decision making at state and local levels. The recommendations re-envision the states role in K-12 infrastructure as one of appropriately supporting educational outcomes and contributing to more sustainable communities through a framework of public infrastructure best practices for sound planning, effective management, adequate and equitable funding, and appropriate oversight.