What School Construction Cuts Could Mean for Your District

by Michael Grabell and Jennifer LaFleur, ProPublica

One of the more poignant moments from President Barack Obama's news conference Monday night was when he talked
about a South Carolina school that shakes every time a train runs by.

The president was clearly frustrated over the $16 billion in school construction money that was stripped from the economic stimulus package as part of a compromise with Republicans. The cut leaves a vast gap between the H
ouse and href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/docs/senate_bill_090209.pdf">Senate bills, and is emerging as a major point of contention as
congressional leaders work in conference on a final version of the bill.

The bill approved by the House calls for $14 billion in construction and renovations for K-12 public schools. The Senate bill had $16 billion.

But the compromise wiped out those funds, affecting school districts from New York City to Mirage Flats in Nebraska. The Los Angeles Unified School District would lose $436 million, Chicago would lose $316 million and Philadelphia would lose $212 million.

Take
a look at this interactive chart to see how much your school district stands to lose.

The chart and other stories are part of ShovelWatch , our ongoing project tracking the stimulus package with WNYC
Radio of New York and the national radio show, "The Takeaway."

href="http://www.propublica.org/article/school-construction-funding">See the interactive chart

Michael Grabell and Jennifer LaFleur are reporters for ProPublica, America's largest investigative newsroom.