Research with NCSF Partners
The National Council on School Facilities works to give state officials access to the most current and critical research on school facilities. In addition NCSF participates in research projects.
2025 State of our Schools: America’s PK-12 Public School Facilities
The 2025 report looks at the period from FY2014 to FY2023 that includes the COVID-19 pandemic. It shows that the annual funding gap for elementary and secondary public school buildings and grounds, persisted at $85 billion even with major COVID aid that could be used for facilities. We introduce five key strategies for reducing the facility gap: Improve management and labor practices for facility M&O; Execute comprehensive school facility modernizations, not piecemeal projects; Reform policies and practices to increase return on investments; Explore governance and space efficiencies for districts and PK-12 buildings and grounds; Dedicate adequate and stable funds for buildings and grounds. This report was conducted by the 21st Century School Fund in partnership with the National Council on School Facilities and International WELL Building Institute.
2021 State of our Schools
The 2021 State of our Schools provides an overview of research on the impact and importance of public school facilities to education, health, the environment, communities, and resiliency. It analyzes facilities spending and investment in the years from FY09 following the great recession to FY2019. This report was conducted by the 21st Century School Fund in partnership with the National Council on School Facilities and International WELL Building Institute.
2016 State of our Schools
The 2016 State of our Schools provides a state and national analysis of 20 years (FY1994-2013) of maintenance and operations spending and capital construction investments. It provides a standards framework for what is needed for K-12 public school facilities in the future. This report is a joint project of the National Council on School Facilities, 21st Century School Fund, and the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council.
Priority Actions for Adequate & Equitable U.S. PK-12 Infrastructure
There are 55 priority actions identified to address the systemic problems of delivering adequate and equitable public school facilities. These priority actions will support the essentials of a comprehensive local, state, and federal system for adequate and equitable PK–12 infrastructure. They were synthesized and selected from 200 solution ideas generated through our process and are considered to have the greatest potential for development, replication, and scaling. This report is a joint project of the Center for Cities + Schools, the National Council on School Facilities, 21st Century School Fund, and the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council.
How Crumbling School Facilities Perpetuate Inequality
With Congress and the president pledging to address America’s long-term infrastructure needs, the challenges of maintaining school facilities are gaining more visibility. It is about time, too, because our public school facility infrastructure needs significant upgrading. The average public school building was built around 1968 — more than 50 years ago.