蜜桃影视

In Hawaii, 1 in 5 schools is more than 100 years old, and the average age of a school building is 61.

Hawaii鈥檚 public schools need $293 million to catch up on overdue repairs and maintenance, a 5 percent increase over the year before, reported late last year.

But Hawaii is not alone. Nationally, the average school building age was when the data was last collected, in 2012鈥�13.

Signs of decay can be found all over the country. A Roanoke, Virginia, so they don鈥檛 get wet from a leaky ceiling, and students regularly mop up the dripping water. In Philadelphia, at school last year, one of three in the city still tainted with the substance. And earlier this winter, schools had to close because dated heating systems could not keep buildings warm enough.

Despite bipartisan congressional Trump to support an infrastructure bill that allocates funds for education, a leaked released by Axios includes no provision for school facilities. And despite calling on 鈥渂oth parties to come together to give us the safe, fast, reliable, and modern infrastructure our economy needs and our people deserve,鈥� Trump did not mention school buildings in his State of the Union Tuesday night.

Kosta Diamantis, president of the National Council on School Facilities, sent a letter to Trump urging him to name school infrastructure funding as a priority in his State of the Union speech. Diamantis noted that last year America鈥檚 schools got from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

鈥淭he federal government has kept its eyes closed for well too long,鈥� he told 蜜桃影视.

Nationally, an estimated $145 billion per year is needed for maintenance, repairs, and new construction in America鈥檚 public school districts, according to a by the Center for Green Schools, the National Council on School Facilities, and the 21st Century School Fund. Actual spending on infrastructure is about $46 billion under that, however, according to the report, which relied on data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

One problem is that spending on school infrastructure never bounced back after the Great Recession, said Mary Filardo, executive director of the , which advocates for improving school facilities.

Add that to the natural wear and tear on school buildings, plus the increasing needs of students and teachers for high-technology gear 鈥� electrical outlets, for instance, were far less of a concern when many schools were built half a century ago 鈥斅燼nd it seems almost inevitable that America鈥檚 schools would fall into disrepair.

States and municipalities do what they can to support their school districts with the resources they have, but that often falls short, said Diamantis, who also serves as the director of school construction grants and review for the Connecticut Department of Education.

鈥淭he federal government needs to belly up to the bar and start contributing to an important asset [school facilities] that is equally as important as highways and bridges,鈥� he said.

Infrastructure legislation that includes $100 billion in spending for school infrastructure has been introduced in both the and the . Democrats are leading the charge, but Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has also publicly supported the plans. In the House, is working on the issue.

Both Diamantis and Filardo also said they believe federal money should be distributed to states, which could then allocate it to districts according to need.

indicates that a student鈥檚 physical environment 鈥� noise, air quality, light, and other structural factors 鈥斅燾orrelates to student achievement, and schools that serve predominantly students of color and those from low-income backgrounds , said Sapna Cheryan, a researcher at the University of Washington.

Filardo of 21st Century Schools said she鈥檚 hopeful the money will come 鈥� if not with this Congress, then with the next one.

鈥淲e think it鈥檚 basically the right thing to do,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen the stock market鈥檚 up, and employment is strong, if you can鈥檛 take care of your schools and your kids, what kind of country are you, really?鈥�

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