When Mary Filardo was a child, her father was the superintendent of a rural school district in Illinois鈥攁 one-room school house, in fact.
鈥淎nimals on platforms in barns were in better conditions than kids in schools,鈥� in that district, she recalled.
Her father led the push for a bond referendum to replace the building and consolidate several of the district鈥檚 schools into larger, nicer facilities.
The issue of school building upkeep stared Filardo in the face once again as an adult, when her two children attended the dilapidated Oyster-Adams Bilingual School in the District of Columbia. She led a group of parents who successfully pushed for a public-private partnership to upgrade the school built in 1926, presaging a citywide school modernization initiative years later.
It鈥檚 no surprise, then, that Filardo has become one of the nation鈥檚 foremost advocates for addressing longstanding neglect of K-12 school building infrastructure. In 1994, she formed the nonprofit 21st Century School Fund, and in 2016 she founded the [Re]Build America鈥檚 School Infrastructure Coalition (BASIC), a collection of more than 100 public and private organizations that support school modernization.
Now as Congress takes up President Joe Biden鈥檚 proposals to upgrade the nation鈥檚 infrastructure, Filardo could see the culmination of her efforts over the last couple decades to make the case that the federal government鈥攏ot just states and local school districts鈥攕hould play a major role in ensuring that all students, whether in wealthy or poor communities, can learn in safe, well-maintained, adequately sized school buildings.
鈥淲hat we know from back channels is that there鈥檚 support for it that鈥檚 more bipartisan than people want to make it seem,鈥� Filardo, who testified April 28 at a hearing on infrastructure, said in an interview with Education Week. 鈥淭he politics are so strong. We feel optimistic. This has never really been closer.鈥�
But she hasn鈥檛 won the fight just yet. The federal government is considering two competing proposals for investing in school infrastructure. The extent of Congress鈥� appetite for trillions of dollars in new spending remains to be seen. 69传媒 are facing considerable financial pressure from other directions, like the need to address students鈥� mental health, learning loss, and teacher compensation.
鈥淪ometimes the money comes and that鈥檚 the easy part,鈥� Filardo said. 鈥淭he hard part is really getting it to the low-income communities first and getting good value from it.鈥�
Here are four key points Filardo makes about how school infrastructure spending currently works, how it ought to work, and what it will take to get it right.
69传媒 don鈥檛 have to wait for Biden鈥檚 infrastructure plan to pass to get started
The American Rescue Plan, a massive federal stimulus package signed into law in March, offers schools the opportunity to get a jump start on addressing backlogs of maintenance needs, Filardo said.
On a webinar hosted this week by AASA, the School Superintendents Association, Filardo recommended school districts set aside 15 percent of those federal funds for school building fixes like repairing crumbling roofs, improving ventilation and air flow, and closing leaks. That would amount nationally to a $20 billion down payment nationwide on school infrastructure before the federal government takes any more steps to invest.
Some school districts have already made plans along those lines, while others are still hashing out the specifics of their expenses, or waiting on their state to detail how they can use the funds. The good news is that schools don鈥檛 need to rush, particularly for capital projects that tend to take time鈥攕chools have until 2024 to spend the American Rescue Plan funds.
Bonds will exacerbate existing inequities, while grants could bridge gaps.
A in the U.S. House would allocate $100 billion in grants and $30 billion in bonds to school districts for infrastructure work. President Joe Biden鈥檚 calls for $50 billion in grants and $50 billion in bonds.
Filardo strongly prefers the House proposal, because of both the higher dollar amount and the emphasis on grants over bonds. School districts in high-income areas have an easier time issuing bonds, which often require voter approval and a strong credit rating.
As a result, government programs centered around bonds can perpetuate inequitable access to funds among districts by putting areas with high concentrations of low-income students at a disadvantage. That鈥檚 especially problematic since many of those areas also have the biggest infrastructure needs.
The U.S. has thousands of tiny school districts, in part . Filardo argues those districts are particularly behind when it comes to funding construction and renovation.
鈥淭he lowering of the grant program in half was a real blow to the lowest-income districts and really the highest-need cities where they鈥檙e already burdened with a tremendous amount of debt,鈥� Filardo said. 鈥淟ocal school districts have about a half trillion dollars in local school bond debt. It鈥檚 not that they鈥檙e not trying. They need the federal help.鈥�
We鈥檙e just going to consume what our parents and grandparents gave us? We鈥檙e not going to leave anything for our kids and grandkids?
Communities benefit when school infrastructure improves
Filardo has been heartened by the emphasis in federal proposals on the importance of planning and data management at the district and state level. For too long, she said, districts have dealt with infrastructure 鈥渙n a reactive basis,鈥� funding a project when the need becomes too great to ignore, or years after it ought to have been resolved. A more proactive approach will pay off for years to come.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to raise up the bottom, the bar for what鈥檚 average goes up for all of us,鈥� Filardo said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not OK for schools not to have bathrooms fully functioning. It鈥檚 not OK for schools not to have a mechanical ventilation system that brings in the fresh air. It鈥檚 frankly not OK that teachers and kids are some of the only workforce that鈥檚 on a day-to-day basis in un-air-conditioned spaces when it鈥檚 90 degrees outside.鈥�
Biden鈥檚 infrastructure proposals include several other priorities that touch schools, beyond the section specifically focused on education. His administration is calling for $100 billion to achieve universal home broadband access by 2030, and $45 billion to replace all of the nation鈥檚 lead pipes, including those in schools.
Filardo sees the overall initiative as a much-needed acknowledgement of the interconnected nature of the infrastructure issues facing American cities and towns. She鈥檚 hopeful that modernized schools can take their place as hubs of activity for their communities.
鈥淵our elder population and elementary schools can be planning play space programming together. You should be able to integrate libraries in your schools in new ways. Green roofs are going to address overall stormwater management,鈥� Filardo said. 鈥淭here are ways that this program could be the nexus of real community investment and neighborhood reinvestment.鈥�
Advocating for school building infrastructure is a long game
Filardo thinks often about a moment shortly after her children left Oyster-Adams and moved on to middle school. She told the president of the school鈥檚 PTA, 鈥淢y kids never went to a modernized school in D.C. at Oyster.鈥�
His response? 鈥淭hat鈥檚 OK. We鈥檒l carry it on. We won鈥檛 drop the advocacy for this.鈥�
That moment showed Filardo that some fights have to play out over many years, or even generations.
Seventy years after the Oyster-Adams school was built, Filardo found herself advocating for continuing its role in her community, in part to honor the people who put it there. She sees the current push for improving schools on the same continuum.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just going to consume what our parents and grandparents gave us? We鈥檙e not going to leave anything for our kids and grandkids?鈥� Filardo said of the nation鈥檚 failure to modernize and replace aging schools. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 do it now, they have a much bigger hole to dig out of.鈥�
