Legislators Need Quick Course on Poor Conditions

The U.S. Senate recently rejected a proposal by President Clinton to provide funding to help renovate crumbling school buildings around the country. You really have to wonder when these senators last visited a public school. I’d sure like to take one of them on a quick walk through my own, since a tour of a school in a relatively affluent area only represents the tip of the iceberg.

I’d start my tour in the main hallway, but if it’s raining, we’d have to step around the buckets strategically placed beneath each roof leak. Next stop is the women teachers’ restroom. The old soap dispensers have long since disappeared, but we’re in luck today because one of us has been to Price Club. Although there is a place for two handles on each sink, there is no hot water. A quick peek into a students’ restroom, however, is a descent into chaos. Besides a lack of hot water and soap, there are missing tiles everywhere, no toilet-paper holders, and only one toilet actually functions.

Down the hall are the building’s drinking fountains. One is wrapped in black plastic with a sign above it that says, “Do Not Use.” The other is filled with a black liquid that will not drain. Once outside the building, the concrete walkways and playing courts have enough cracks to make tripping and falling an inevitability. Inside my classroom, things improve some because I’ve replaced most of the dilapidated furniture myself. The chair that originally went with my desk suffered its final breakdown last year, unfortunately with a student sitting in it. He went over backward as a result, but did not sue.

My school is one of eight in our district, and we certainly aren’t the worst. Thanks to the ravages of El Nino, one school had to evacuate 10 classrooms last month because acoustical ceiling tiles were falling on the children. According to a district spokesman, $160 million is needed to take care of our most urgent repairs, but only $12 million is available.

And keep in mind we are situated in a nice suburban area with an average home price of $240,000. If my school is this run-down, one can only shudder at the condition of those in less affluent areas. Some inner-city schools are in such disrepair it’s a wonder any students or teachers show up.

It is inconceivable that with school buildings this bad and this unsafe that the public isn’t enraged. Unfortunately, there seems to be much more interest in high-tech improvements, even though such expenditures seem absurd in light of these far more pressing needs. Repairing plumbing is not as glamorous as buying computers. But to talk about providing Internet access for a school whose roof is collapsing makes no sense. It’s a bit like purchasing stainless-steel deck chairs for the Titanic.

Oh, I know. How a school looks is just so much window dressing. What really matters is what goes on inside the classroom. The classroom, however, is affected by the school’s overall environment. It may be an insidious thing, but ugly, broken surroundings wear on everyone. They affect student attitude. It’s hard enough for many kids to stay motivated, but to surround them with disgusting bathrooms and broken lockers doesn’t help. Furthermore, if the school looks run-down, there’s less incentive to keep it clean. It’s hard to feel pride in a school you’re ashamed of.

A school in disrepair also affects teacher morale. Teaching well is a demanding job that requires intelligent, experienced professionals. At the end of an exhausting day, to walk into a restroom with no soap and no hot water is an insult. It’s a continual challenge to stick with this career and to attract talented people into the field when you’re not treated with dignity.

I don’t know where the money will come from to address these most basic of educational needs, but address them we must. Maybe it will be a combination of state and federal help in addition to passing our own bond issues. But for a wealthy country to allow one of its most sacred institutions, public schools, to deteriorate like this is inexcusable, especially when we clearly have the means to take care of the problem.

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Christine Baron, a high school English teacher in Orange County, is the co-author of “What Did You Learn in School Today?” She writes a column for the Times’ Orange County edition. She can be contacted at educ@latimes.com or (714) 966-4550.