The Nation - News from April 9, 1989

One in four of the nation’s 88,021 public school buildings needs maintenance or major repairs, is overcrowded or obsolete or presents environmental hazards, according to “Wolves at the Schoolhouse Door,” a study by the Education Writers Assn., a group of journalists from publications across the country. The study cites antiquated facilities, an enrollment boom and inadequate capital funds in concluding that “the schoolhouse may be the most seriously threatened part of the infrastructure.” One-fifth of the nation’s schools were constructed more than 50 years ago, the association said. Nearly two-thirds were built in the 1950s and 1960s, “generally a time of rapid and cheap construction . . . many construction experts say the buildings were intended to last only about 30 years. If so, their time is up.”