|
Washington D.C. - January 4, 2024––The [Re]Build America’s School Infrastructure Coalition (BASIC), a coalition of education, civic, labor and industry organizations applauds Congress for providing five years of funding in the FY23 omnibus that enabled the Department of Education to establish the Supporting America’s School Infrastructure (SASI) grants and create the National Center on School Infrastructure (NCSI). We commend the Biden Administration and Department of Education for standing up these programs at a time when our nation’s most underserved districts need critical support in modernizing their public school facilities.
According to the 2021 State of our School Report, K-12 public school districts are facing a $56 billion annual gap in capital funding for facilities renovation and construction, and an additional $29 billion annual gap for funding the regular operations and maintenance of their buildings and grounds. Moreover, a January 2022 GAO report found that school districts in vulnerable communities face heightened challenges from the intensifying and more frequent impacts of climate change-fueled natural disasters. Additionally, GAO found that 41 percent of districts required HVAC systems upgrades or replacements in at least half of their schools.
Executive Director of BASIC, Ally Talcott, stated: “It is imperative that Congress turn its attention to this critical issue now, as every year the federal government fails to provide assistance, the worse and more expensive the problem becomes. Just like members of Congress don’t wait until their house is flooded from a burst pipe to call the plumber, neither should our children and educators wait.”
Talcott continued, “The funding for SASI and NCSI is a momentous first step for our federal government in providing critical technical assistance to states that will increase their capacity to help districts improve their facilities. Additionally, with the guidance and expertise of NCSI, the technical assistance center, states and local education agencies will also have additional support and capacity to scale up their efforts. All of these resources combined are incredibly valuable to ensuring healthier, safer, more resilient, and modern schools for our children––federal dollars well spent.”
BASIC is also deeply grateful for our Congressional champions, Senator Reed (D-RI) and Ranking Member Scott (D-VA), who re-introduced the Rebuild America’s School Act (RASA) this past summer. The bill would authorize $130 billion dollars over the course of ten years to modernize our nation’s public schools. This funding would help close the growing capital funding and maintenance and operations gaps, which states and districts cannot do without the federal government’s assistance.
Lastly, BASIC congratulates the states AL, AZ, OR, CA, PA, RI, VA, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands that have been awarded funds through the SASI grants, and the Institute of Urban & Regional Development at the University of California, Berkeley (IURD), the 21st Century School Fund (21CSF), the National Council on School Facilities (NCSF), and Child Trends that will open the National Center on School Infrastructure. We encourage Congress to continue funding for both the SASI grants and NCSI, as the need outweighs the amount of funding currently available. Future funding will mean more states and LEAs can receive the vital support needed to modernize their schools, and provide our children and school staff the working environments critical to their health and performance.
Contact: Ally Talcott - ally.talcott@alliedforprogress.com
| 
