22% of U.S. Schools Found Overcrowded

More than one-fifth of the nation’s schools have more students than they were built to serve, the Education Department says in a report suggesting that crowding and crumbling buildings go hand in hand.

In 1999, the study said, 17,400 U.S. schoolhouses, or 22%, were at least 6% over capacity--the department’s definition of overcrowding--and 8% of all schools, 6,200 buildings, were severely overcrowded. That was defined as enrolling 25% more children than the building was constructed to hold.

Two-thirds of the overcrowded schools, which enroll nearly 18 million children, had roofs, plumbing and other building features that needed constant maintenance, violated building codes or required outright replacement, the study said.

The report was based on a survey, the first ever, in which the officials from 903 public schools nationwide were asked last year about building space and the condition of roofs, plumbing, heating, ventilation and other features. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.9 of a percentage point.

The report is available at https://nces.ed.gov.