Copyright 2000 The Seattle Times Company
The
Seattle Times
March 10, 2000, Friday Night Final Edition
SECTION: LOCAL NEWS; Pg. B3
LENGTH: 406 words
HEADLINE:
State is 3rd in school construction
Superintendent's office questions
federal numbers
BYLINE: Keith Ervin; Seattle Times
staff reporter
BODY:
While some local school
officials complain they don't have enough money to refurbish aging schools or
keep pace with enrollment growth, Washington ranks third on a list of the states
that spent the most on school construction from 1990 to 1997.
Washington, spending an average of $854 a student each
year, placed behind Nevada ($934) and Florida
($877). The lowest-spending state was Connecticut, at
$37 a student, according to the March 3 report by the General
Accounting Office (GAO). Oregon spent $378 a student.
Nationwide, states and local school districts spent $25
billion in 1997, up from nearly $18 billion in 1990. The
average spent was about $473 a student over the eight years
measured by the report.
Mike Currie, director of school facilities and
construction for the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
said he had not seen the GAO's figures, but questioned its Washington
construction total of $6.1 billion from 1990 to 1997. He
estimated Washington spent closer to $4 billion.
Much
of the nation's school spending was driven by population growth. First-ranked
Nevada led the nation in growth in student enrollment.
But in
Washington, renovation or replacement of older buildings also played an
important role. Seattle, for instance, is spending $360 million
to repair or replace 19 schools, some built before 1910.
Some areas,
including parts of King, Snohomish, Pierce, Clark and Spokane counties, are
still struggling to build schools to accommodate new students. But Currie said
spending has shifted more to modernizing older schools.
School districts
around the state will ask voters Tuesday to approve tax measures that would
raise $400 million for school construction.
Fixing the
worst schoolhouses has been a top goal of the Clinton administration, which
continues to push Congress to spend federal money on a program to fix schools in
poor urban or rural areas. The report noted that the average school building is
42 years old.
"The nicest places our children see are theaters and
shopping malls and the worst things they see are public schools; what does that
say to them?" Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said in committee debate last week over
renewing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which
covers most federal spending for school programs.
Information
from The Associated Press is included in this report.
LOAD-DATE: March 12, 2000
