“Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system. America’s schools are crumbling. There’s black mold in buildings in Alaska and Maine . Classrooms in New Jersey and Texas lack proper heating and cooling. And there are persistent plumbing problems in Idaho and Pennsylvania . America’s aging school infrastructure is by one measure a nearly $90 billion problem. Federal leaders have acknowledged it since at least the 1980s but have declined to address it. Local school districts and state governments also haven’t solved it — in some cases, even after being ordered by a court to do so. It’s a problem so big that one congressional candidate running to represent parts of Philadelphia — where the cost of repairing and upgrading public schools could cost up to $10 billion — is making it the centerpiece of his campaign. After struggling to find solutions in the Pennsylvania Legislature, state Sen. Sharif Street, a Democrat, believes only the federal government has the resources to tackle this issue. He thinks a $500 billion block grant proposal could find bipartisan support in a Congress and a country deeply divided on the federal government’s role in education. “If we don’t address this at a federal level and come up with a massive amount of money to do so, we’re going to constantly be in a space of choosing all bad options,” Street said. Those who lobby for the issue say Street’s proposal could put thousands of people to work, boost test scores, and strengthen communities. Street thinks it could — and must — be the nation’s next interstate highway project . To make his case in Congress, Street must first get through a tough Democratic primary for the 3rd Congressional District on May 19. The winner of the primary is the heavy favorite to win the November election. Regardless of whether Street wins the seat, advocates say it’s rare for a congressional candidate to make school infrastructure a key issue in a pitch to voters. “It is absolutely viable, if Congress has the will to do it, and it would be transformative for America’s families and communities for decades to come,” said Ally Talcott, executive director of the Build America’s School Infrastructure Coalition, of Street’s proposal. “I think it is quite possibly one of the areas that could bring the country together.” The centerpiece of Pennsylvania Sen. Sharif Street's congressional campaign is a $500 billion proposal to fund school construction and maintenance. But Street is wading into a debate where others have previously failed to make progress . Convincing conservatives to support sending $500 billion for school facilities through a Department of Education the Trump administration is working to dismantle would be a tough sell, even if local bond measures for school infrastructure continue to do well at the ballot box. R. Richard Geddes, a nonresident senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute specializing in infrastructure policy, said he thinks school construction and maintenance is “a huge sleeper issue” that few are paying close attention to. Still, for a proposal like Street’s to succeed and that money be spent efficiently, Geddes there should be conditions. He suggested requiring municipalities to bundle projects like Pennsylvania did to build 550 bridges, or setting up a federal credit program like one that provides loans for highway and railroad projects . Asking thousands of local education agencies to apply for some of the $500 billion pot would be “a mess,” and those districts wouldn’t reap the benefits of scale, Geddes said. Cities and municipalities should also consider public-private partnerships, Geddes said. That could look like attaching a privately owned gym or coffee shop to a school building to generate revenue that could pay for a portion of the building maintenance. Geddes said that could come with its own controversy, but “it would still be better than what we have, which is a lack of creative thinking.” State and local funding lags for school infrastructure To accommodate the baby boom generation, cities and towns built thousands of new schools. Since then, the fertility rate has declined, and post-pandemic K-12 enrollment has been shrinking . That’s left many school buildings half empty and costly to maintain. State and local lawmakers typically patch up the worst infrastructure issues with small-dollar grants and emergency funds. But they haven’t come close to fully funding their school facilities’ needs. As of 2023, 13 states contributed less than 10% toward local district investments in school construction and capital improvements, according to the 21st Century School Fund’s State of the Schools report from last year. And 10 states made no contributions at all. It’s estimated that the average annual gap between what districts are spending on their public school facilities and what is needed is nearly $90 billion nationally, according to the State of the Schools report. It’s a crucial education issue that has been politically “orphaned,” Filardo said, despite recent history indicating it can be relatively popular with voters. Voters approved nearly 80% of bond measures for school facilities in 2025, and they approved nearly 74% in 2024. In May, Texas voters approved a $6.2 billion school bond — the largest in state history . But local funding hasn’t been sufficient to meet all the needs. And in some places, like Philly, the school district lacks taxing authority altogether. In Street’s hometown of Philadelphia, the school facilities crisis has become one of the most pressing political issues in the city. With a $300 million budget deficit and declining student population, the district is moving forward with a $3 billion plan to close 17 schools and modernize nearly 170 others. But right now, the district can’t pay for it . The district’s annual budget is $4.5 billion, yet estimates for the total cost to repair and upgrade its schools range from $5 billion to nearly $10 billion . “Philadelphia is one of the great American cities. And it’s like, how did you let this get this bad?” said Mary Filardo, a school construction finance expert and founder of the 21st Century School Fund. Pennsylvania’s previous program to fund school repairs, known as PlanCon, stopped receiving funding in 2015 . A new version has never received state funding. “There’s no way that the city or the state at the local level can actually fully address those needs,” Street said. “We just can’t do it.” Street said his proposal, which he acknowledged is a starting point and could end up being much smaller than $500 billion, would have the Department of Education send out funding through an as-yet-undeveloped formula that factors in local population and needs. The Philadelphia school district spends about $770 million on facilities a year, mostly on debt service and emergency repairs when roofs collapse or boilers fail, Filardo said. Those emergency repairs can end up costing more than regular maintenance and upkeep. Filardo says for districts like Philly it’s a bit of a paradox: “They’re not spending enough, but they’re spending a lot, and they’re not getting as good a value from what they are spending.” Geddes said when cities and towns are faced with budget crises, “the easiest thing to do in the world is defer maintenance.” That goes for roads, sidewalks, and electrical grids as well as schools. He suggested one condition of receiving federal funding could be locking in contracts that would commit municipalities to funding 10 or 12 years of proper maintenance in advance. That maintenance will be critical, Filardo warned, as construction costs rise and the effects of climate change batter buildings and put extra pressure on electrical systems. School infrastructure funded with ‘hodgepodge’ of federal policies Talcott of the infrastructure coalition said the way the country currently treats school construction funding is via “a hodgepodge of federal policies.” Funding goes out piecemeal through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Education, and the Department of Energy. A bill in Congress aims to take on the problem, but it’s a far cry from the $500 billion Street is seeking. The Rebuild America’s Schools Act of 2026 co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat, would set aside $100 billion in direct grants and $30 billion in bonding authority over five years for school construction. But Scott, the ranking member on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said gaining support for the legislation has felt like an uphill battle. The bill currently has no Republican cosponsors and hasn’t had a hearing. Scott and other lawmakers have introduced a version of the bill four times since 2019. “If the locality can’t afford it and the state’s not doing it, then it’s either going to be the federal government or it won’t get done,” Scott said. Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org .
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