My recent post about how a city's values can be reflected in an impressive new school building prompted some interesting comments. One in particular grabbed my attention.
A reader wrote,
"The premise that nice buildings make kids learn better is irresponsible and one of the key reasons schools are in such financial distress."
Although, as a school facilities architect, I might like to think otherwise, I know that many people have similar feelings. In these times, when budgets of every kind are being cut to the bone, spending public dollars on "nice buildings" can seem like a luxury we can't afford.
It's like that World War II era slogan, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without!" Only I would argue that when it comes to schools, fixing up old buildings is the best way to get the most use out of them.
It's another example of the dangerous decline in our infrastructure. Like our congested highways, bursting water pipes and corroding bridges, decaying schools are a reminder that our prosperity as a nation is jeopardized by physical neglect.
A 2009 report by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), called the Report Card for America's Infrastructure, gave a "D" grade to our schools.
The report found,
The nation's schools serve as pillars of local communities and often serve a dual purpose as disaster-relief shelters. As local governments hold the prime responsibility for funding schools, the economic downturn has had a negative impact on rehabilitation, modernization, and security improvements.School facilities are not currently considered resilient because of decreased funding and increased capacity, the failure of designs to adapt to the ever changing learning environment, and the lack of system redundancy.
In order to achieve continuous assurance of service, future investments should consider life-cycle maintenance, rapid recovery, alternative services, security, and condition and risk assessment.
So, I would suggest to my critic (and by the way, folks, keep those comments coming whether you agree with me or think I'm nuts -- it's all about starting a conversation!) that it's not a question of what's nice, but rather, what's necessary. These buildings are old and the only way to keep them from decaying past the point of usability is to invest in their infrastructure.
Our "information world" is changing so fast that these buildings stand little chance of keeping up unless we work at it. Did you know that the top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not even exist in 2004? We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist and using technologies that haven't been invented -- in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet.
Or, as a viral video and Wiki community put it, "Shift Happens."
The race to stay ahead in the information age is as close as the smart phone in our pocket. In 1984 there were 1,000 Internet devices in this country. By 1992, that number rose to 1,000,000, and in 2008, the number was 1,000,000,000.
When a community decides to invest in school infrastructure, through a bond issue, revenue investment or change in political direction, the changes they seek are way more than cosmetic. The conversation I began with my post about the Crested Butte Community School made the point that when a community invests in schools, it is reaffirming the most deeply held values and beliefs.
In 2008 the, Gunnison school district (where Crested Butte is located) was facing deteriorating schools and an economic climate that was not conducive to tax increases, yet they managed to persuade voters to pass a bond which allowed for the repair, renovation, expansion and remodel of several schools in that district.
The community's overriding concern was that the improvements would cost more down the road while in the short-term the impact on students and teachers of deteriorating building conditions could be calamitous.
A similar step was taken in Detroit, when by a 62 percent to 38 percent margin, voters approved a $500 million bond referendum for new facilities and capital improvements in Detroit Public Schools.
Isn't that how public spending is supposed to work? Needs are identified, community support is mobilized, and the machinery of government is put to work -- with the consent of the governed.
But what if the public interest isn't on the government's radar? That's what frequently happened during the long, shameful period of segregation in America. In 1912, a Chicago businessman named Julius Rosenwald gave Booker T. Washington permission to use some of the money he had donated to the Tuskegee Institute to build six small schools in rural Alabama.
The program was such a success that Rosenwald set up the Rosenwald Rural School Building Program, to bring schools to small black communities throughout the South by offering design, planning and seed money assistance as long as they provided a workforce and local funds.
According to a website history maintained by the National Trust for Historic Preservation,
At the program's conclusion in 1932, it had produced 4,977 new schools, 217 teachers' homes, and 163 shop buildings, constructed at a total cost of $28,408,520 to serve 663,615 students in 883 counties of 15 states.
In a passage that echoes our contemporary conversation about the role facilities can play in the total engagement of students in their education, the website goes on to say,
In the early twentieth century, Progressive architects applied new ideas to school design and developed new standards to evaluate school plans. Their concerns included lighting, ventilation, heating, sanitation, instructional needs, and aesthetics -- all intended to create positive, orderly, and healthy environments for learning. Most of these designers and plans focused on urban schools, however. The designers of Rosenwald schools applied the same Progressive principles to country schools, and in so doing made the Rosenwald school building program a major force in rural school design.
As you can see from this presentation, the legacy of the Rosenwald school initiative is to sustain the guiding principle of every endeavor in education: It's all about the kids.
Whether the money comes from private or public sources, the point is that school systems in the U.S. are designed to reflect local, community values, concerns and techniques. As is the case with so many other aspects of the great American melting pot, one size definitely does not fit all.
Sure, there have been funds spent on schools in less distress than buildings a few miles down the road, and the clout of some "haves" can squeeze out the urgent needs of the "have nots."
But when a community's educational mission results in the renovation or construction of "nice buildings" that "make kids learn better" it is in no way "irresponsible."
In fact it may be the one thing that keeps our future generations from almost certain financial distress.
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The equipment within the room is not architecture. That's classroom material, like books.
And second, having a functional building is what is needed. What you described is not a functional building. It should enrage you even more that some schools are getting monsterous and expensive architectural additions if your ceiling is leaking.
You can build a school building for 400 kids that will last unchanged for 40 years for 10 M$. That amounts to $625/kid/year. Compared to the cost of education in the $15,000 per year range (in NY) the cost of good infrastructure is relatively insignificant. And it pays considerable community dividends.
The outside of a school is the first thing parents and students see, and to see the one I currently work at would make me think twice about enrolling my child. There are no parks, the school is located on a very busy 4 lane road, and its layout is a combination of military barracks and assembly line architecture. That said, this school has the most dedicated teachers and support staff I’ve ever worked with. We work hard to make our school a gathering place for our neighborhood, but it’s difficult to do with toilets overflowing. I realize it’s not how a school looks that creates learning, but it can sure help create pride in one's community and a child's education.
Chris Bowen
http://teacher2teacher.lacoe.edu/a-fresh-dreamer.aspx
Poorer areas, urban areas... schools aren't schools. They're Daycares.
And that is not their decision. Most, if not all teachers would rather teach than be a babysitter. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way that expectation was placed on their shoulders thus minimizing the time to actually teach.
I say that as someone who lives in a very poor neighborhood. It infurates me when my stepson's teacher is trying to be his parent. It's not like he contradicts us, but it's time spent not teaching. Still, I cannot blame the teacher as that is just what he is used to. We've spoken to him about it, and he apologized claiming he did/does it out of habbit. I believe him. That is just wrong, though.
I think that most people don't realize that renovating schools is just cosmetics, it's that these changes are investments. We're not exactly going around putting hot-tubs and movie theaters in these places. Students should learn in facilities that help to encourage and reinforce positive growth, and that's hard to do when your school looks like something out of The Shining. And that's doubly true when schools also act as a community center or serve a dual purpose. Infrastructure is that backbone to any system, when that be school, highways are the electrical grid we need to make sure that everything is in tip top shape.
Thanks again and make sure to keep up the great posts.
Thank You! To use a supporting analogy, you could be the most qualified candidate, hands-down, for a job. If you come in to your interview dressed inappropriately, you will not get the job. Despite your qualifications, you attire spoke more loudly that your words or resume.
Poorly maintained schools send several messages. To students, they say that you do not matter to us. The rich school with the new sports complex matters more to us. We placed you here, and we really do not care. To the community, they say that education is this community doesn't matter. Your voices really do not matter. To the society, it says that it is OK to have these vast disparities in facilities. That is just the way that it is. Accept it, and get over it.
Thanks for pointing out that facilities matter to a wide range of interest groups. Keep up the excellent posts.