Building Better (Physical) Schools in a Budget Crunch
Frederick M. Hess, Himanshu Kothari | AEI Press
August 08, 2011

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Today's economic downturn has forced school leaders to cut budgets for after-school activities, classroom equipment, and staff, all in an era of increasing academic expectations. Spending on school facilities, in particular, has been relegated to the bottom of priority lists. Yet outmoded facilities cost much more than expected and represent an immense opportunity for reform and savings.

In "Facilities Financing: Monetizing Education's Untapped Resource" (published by AEI's Future of American Education Project), finance specialist and education real estate expert Himanshu Kothari explores the causes of the country's $300 billion funding shortfall in K-12 facilities and offers concrete recommendations to address this troubling trend. Kothari posits that public-private partnerships are a promising avenue for tapping the resources necessary to address capital needs. Because current financial conditions in K-12 scare off potential investors, he suggests that policymakers make private investments in school facilities more appealing by being innovative and overhauling facilities financing.

Effective reform requires:

  • Holding educators and schools accountable for academic and financial performance
  • Loosening regulations that limit the reach of charter schools and other nontraditional programs
  • Creating more opportunities for schools to take advantage of novel financing options

"In light of the ongoing budget squeeze and facilities concerns in K-12 education, Kothari's insight comes at just the right time," says Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). "Enacting the thoughtful measures he suggests will allow for a more stable and investor-friendly system for financing facilities."

Himanshu Kothari can be reached at chukothari@gmail.com. For more information on AEI's Future of American Education Project, please visit www.aei.org/futureofeducation or contact Jenna Schuette at jenna.schuette@aei.org.

For additional media inquires, contact Jesse Blumenthal at jesse.blumenthal@aei.org.

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About the Author

 

Frederick M.
Hess

  • An educator, political scientist and author, Frederick M. Hess studies K-12 and higher education issues. His books include "Cage-Busting Leadership," "The Same Thing Over and Over," "Education Unbound," "Common Sense School Reform," "Revolution at the Margins," and "Spinning Wheels." He is also the author of the popular Education Week blog, "Rick Hess Straight Up." Hess's work has appeared in scholarly and popular outlets such as Teachers College Record, Harvard Education Review, Social Science Quarterly, Urban Affairs Review, American Politics Quarterly, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Phi Delta Kappan, Educational Leadership, U.S. News & World Report, National Affairs, the Washington Post, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic and National Review. He has edited widely cited volumes on education philanthropy, school costs and productivity, the impact of education research, and No Child Left Behind.  Hess serves as executive editor of Education Next, as lead faculty member for the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program, and on the review boards for the Broad Prize in Urban Education and the Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools. He also serves on the boards of directors of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, 4.0 SCHOOLS and the American Board for the Certification of Teaching Excellence. A former high school social studies teacher, he has taught at the University of Virginia, the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, Rice University and Harvard University. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Government, as well as an M.Ed. in Teaching and Curriculum, from Harvard University.


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  • Email: rhess@aei.org

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