Elementary and secondary education, the nation’s largest public enterprise, is conducted in over 80,000 schools in about 15,000 districts. America’s public schools serve over 42 million students. About 70 percent of schools serve 27 million elementary students; 24 percent serve 13.8 million secondary students; and 6 percent serve 1.2 million students in combined elementary and secondary and other schools. America’s traditional one-room school houses have been replaced by larger facilities that may have more than one building. Comprising classroom, administrative, and other areas like gymnasiums and auditoriums, a school may have an original building, any number of permanent additions to that building, and a variety of temporary buildings—each constructed at different times. Buildings that have been well maintained and renovated at periodic intervals have a useful life equivalent to a new building. A number of state courts as well as the Congress have recognized that a high-quality learning environment is essential to educating the nation’s children. Crucial to establishing that learning environment is that children attend school in decent facilities. “Decent facilities” was specifically defined by one court as those that are “...structurally safe, contain fire safety measures, sufficient exits, an adequate and safe water supply, an adequate sewage disposal system, sufficient and sanitary toilet facilities and plumbing fixtures, adequate storage, adequate light, be in good repair and attractively painted as well as contain acoustics for noise control....”More recently, the Congress passed the Education Infrastructure Act of 1994, in which it stated that “improving the quality of public elementary and secondary schools will help our Nation meet the National Education Goals.” Despite these efforts, studies and media reports on school facilities since 1965 indicate that many public elementary and secondary schools are in substandard condition and need major repairs due to leaking roofs, plumbing problems, inadequate heating systems, or other system failures. Although localities generally finance construction and repair, with states playing a variety of roles, federal programs have monies to help localities offset the impact of federal activities, such as Impact Aid, improving accessibility for the disabled, and managing hazardous materials. However, these programs do not totally offset all costs. For example, prior GAO work found that federal assistance provided for asbestos management under the Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Act of 1984 did not meet the needs of all affected schools. From 1988 through 1991, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received 1,746 qualified applications totaling $599 million but only awarded $157 million to 586 school districts it considered to have the worst asbestos problems. EPA was aware of the shortfall in federal assistance but believed that state and local governments should bear these costs. Because of the perception that federal programs—as well as current state and local financing mechanisms—did not begin to address the serious facilities needs of many of America’s schools, the Congress passed the Education Infrastructure Act of 1994. The Congress then appropriated $100 million for grants to schools for repair, renovation, alteration, or construction. To determine the amount of funding needed to improve inadequate facilities and the overall physical condition and prevalence of schools that need major repairs, we surveyed a national sample of schools and augmented the survey with visits to selected school districts. We used various experts to advise us on the design and analysis of this project. (See app. III for a list of advisers.) We sent the survey to a nationally representative stratified random sample of about 10,000 schools in over 5,000 school districts. The sample was designed for the Department of Education’s 1994 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), which is sponsored by the National Center for Educational Statistics. We asked about (1) the physical condition of buildings and major building features, such as roofs; framing, floors, and foundations; exterior walls and interior finishes; plumbing; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC); and electric power; (2) the status of environmental conditions, such as lighting, heating, and ventilation; (3) the amount districts and schools had spent in the last 3 years or plan to spend in the next 3 years due to federal mandates that require managing or correcting hazardous materials problems and providing access to all programs for all students; and (4) an estimate of the total cost of needed repairs, renovations, and modernizations to put all buildings in good overall condition. (See app. IV for a copy of the questionnaire.) We directed the survey to those officials who are most knowledgeable about facilities—such as facilities directors and other central office administrators of the districts that housed our sampled school buildings. Our analyses are based on responses from 78 percent of the schools sampled. Analyses of nonrespondent characteristics showed them to be similar to respondents. Findings from the survey have been statistically adjusted (weighted) to produce nationally representative estimates. All of the data are self-reported, and we did not independently verify their accuracy. (See the forthcoming report on location and demographic analyses of schools in need of major repair for a detailed description of our data collection methods and analysis techniques, confidence intervals, and the like.) In addition, we visited 41 schools in 10 selected school districts varying in location, size, and minority composition. During these visits, we observed facility conditions and interviewed district and local school officials to obtain information on facilities assessment, maintenance programs, resources, and barriers encountered in reaching facility goals. (See app. I for profiles on the districts visited.) We conducted this study from April 1994 to December 1994 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. On the basis of our survey results, we estimate that the nation’s schools need $112 billion to complete all repairs, renovations, and modernizations required to restore facilities to good overall condition and to comply with federal mandates. (See fig. 1.) This amount includes $65 billion—about $2.8 million per school—needed by one-third of schools for which one or more entire building needs major repairs or replacement. Another 40 percent of schools (those in adequate or better condition) reported needing $36 billion—about $1.2 million per school—to repair or replace one or more building features, such as the plumbing or roof, or to make other corrective repairs. Almost two-thirds of the schools reported needing $11 billion—an average of $.2 million per school—to comply with federal mandates over the next 3 years. Of this amount, about $5 billion (54 percent) is needed to correct or remove hazardous substances, such as asbestos, lead in water or paint, materials contained in UST, and radon or meet other requirements while about $6 billion (55 percent) is needed by schools to make programs accessible to all students. (See fig. 1.) This $11 billion is in addition to the $3.8 billion reported spent by three-quarters of all schools in the last 3 years to comply with federal mandates. (See fig. 2.) Of the money schools reported that they spent to comply with federal mandates, $2.3 billion (60 percent) went to correct or remove hazardous substances—primarily asbestos—while $1.5 billion (40 percent) went to make all programs accessible to all students. District officials we spoke with reported that they must also comply with many state and local mandates. For example, one urban district reported how federal, state, and local regulations govern many of the same areas such as hazardous materials management and some aspects of indoor air quality. In addition, officials cited numerous state health and sanitation codes, state safety inspections for building features, as well as city zoning ordinances, local building codes, and historic preservation regulations. By 1992, the enormity of the requirements as well as decades of capital needs underfunding have resulted in only the 2 newest of their 123 schools complying with all current codes. The district further described how these regulations and the accompanying cost could apply to the installation of air conditioning. For example, air conditioning could be installed in a building for $500,000. However, this may also require an additional $100,000 in fire alarm/smoke detection and emergency lighting systems as well as $250,000 in architectural modifications for code compliance. Additionally, the location of outside chillers may be regulated by zoning and historic preservation ordinances. In our visits to selected districts, officials from major urban areas reported needing billions to put their schools into good overall condition. (See table 1.) School officials reported that two-thirds of the nation’s schools are in adequate (or better) condition, at most needing only some preventive maintenance or corrective repair. However, about 14 million students must attend the remaining one-third (25,000 schools), in which at least one building is in need of extensive repair or replacement. Even more students, 28 million, attend schools nationwide that need one or more building feature extensively repaired, overhauled, or replaced or that contain an environmentally unsatisfactory condition, such as poor ventilation. (See tables 2 and 3.) These schools are distributed nationwide. Specifically, about one-third of both elementary and secondary schools reported at least one entire building—original, addition, or temporary—in need of extensive repairs or replacement. (See fig. 3 and pictures in app. II.) About 60 percent (including some schools in adequate condition) reported that at least one building feature needed extensive repair, overhauling, or replacement; and three-quarters of those schools needed multiple features repaired. Features most frequently reported in need of such repairs were HVAC; plumbing; roofs; exterior walls, finishes, windows, and doors; electrical power; electrical lighting; and interior finishes and trims. (See fig. 4 and pictures in app. II.) Further, while 41 percent of all schools reported unsatisfactory energy efficiency, 73 percent of those schools with exterior walls, windows, and doors and 64 percent of those with roofs in need of major repair reported unsatisfactory energy efficiency. These unrepaired features not only reduce energy efficiency but may also have an adverse environmental effect on students.