01.30.18

By:  Moriah Balingit
Source: Washington Post

Will Schools Be Included in Trump's Infrastructure Plan?

As expected, President Trump talked about shoring up America’s infrastructure: “We will build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, and waterways across our land.”

But what about schools? It is still unclear whether schools will be a part of Trump’s broader infrastructure plans, but public-school advocates and Democratic members of Congress say investment in the nation’s public schoolhouses is direly needed.

When the temperatures plunged in Baltimore earlier this year, students unwittingly became the poster children for America’s school infrastructure problem. Inside buildings with failing heating systems, they bundled in coats and blankets against the burgeoning chill while trying to learn. Over a third of buildings reported problems with heating systems, the result of years-long under investment in school facilities.

The problem is not limited to Baltimore. In Detroit, teachers called a “sickout” in 2016 to call attention to crumbling facilities, including infestations of rats and roaches. About a third of Puerto Rico’s schools still have no power in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. A 2014 Education Department study concluded it would cost nearly $200 billion to get all of the nation’s school buildings to “good condition.”

Earlier this month, more than 150 House Democrats wrote a letter to President Trump urging him to include investments in school facilities when he proposes his infrastructure plan. This comes after a bill proposed last year, which called for an $100 billion investment in school facilities, failed to advance.

“Indeed, safe, healthy, modern, well-equipped schools are essential for advancing student achievement and for ensuring that the next generation can achieve the American Dream and meet the economic, social, environmental, and global challenges our nation faces,” they wrote. “Yet, too many of the over 50 million students and six million staff who learn and work in our public schools spend their days in facilities that fail to make the grade.”