Washington D.C. - July 29, 2022––On behalf of BASIC, a dedicated and diverse coalition of education, labor, civic, and industry organizations and companies, we thank the Senate for including provisions that acknowledge the longstanding need for federal support to states and districts as they work to meet the complex challenges of planning, designing, constructing, operating and maintaining public school buildings and grounds.
BASIC is pleased to see the strong language to:
-
Establish an Office of School Infrastructure and Sustainability at the U.S. Department of Education;
- Re-establish a national clearinghouse on educational facilities; and
- Direct the Secretary to provide $50 million to state departments of education so they can provide technical assistance and training on facilities to high-need school districts.
Speaking on behalf of the BASIC coalition, Mary Filardo, Executive Director of 21st Century School Fund, and long-time researcher and advocate for modern teaching and learning environments, stated: "Facilities affect education quality and equity. Even so, there has been almost no federal support, and there is generally insufficient attention and capacity in state departments of education to help local districts with their extensive and challenging school facilities concerns. Local districts, particularly small and low wealth districts, will benefit tremendously when these provisions become enacted.”
Mike Pickens, a former West Virginia Department of Education facilities director and Executive Director of the National Council on School Facilities–the association of state K-12 facilities agencies–explained: “Our school districts need technical assistance and their facility managers need training to improve the health, safety, and education environment in schools. School districts must operate schools with an ongoing COVID epidemic, fears of school shootings, increasing threats for natural disasters from climate change, and a construction environment plagued by labor and material shortages and delay, and dramatically rising costs. Our state education agencies need federal support and capacity in order to do more to help districts with these tremendous challenges.”
Anisa Heming, from the Center for Green Schools @ USGBC said, “We applaud the Senate for including three provisions that acknowledge the urgent need for action to improve the condition of our nation’s school buildings. The inequitable condition of these buildings–conditions that impact student health, student learning, and environmental sustainability–will only be corrected through federal and state assistance, given the disparities between local communities. Creating a federal office to coordinate resources, creating a central clearinghouse, and providing resources to States for the benefit of local districts are all critical steps to move the ball forward for better schools for all kids.”
