Is your school building well maintained?

While a very small majority of teacher's polled believe that their school building is well maintained, the more disturbing fact is that a very large minority of teachers believe the opposite. The maintenance of the places where students learn and teachers do their job, and where both groups spend a large amount of time is extremely important. It's hard to concentrate while the ceiling is falling around your ears.

Hopefully this is an exaggerated circumstance, but the reality does exist that many believe our schools are in need of more maintenance. It would be interesting to see whether there is a difference between inner city school and those located in more suburban areas. Typically inner city schools tend to be older and more in need of attention, making maintenance even more important.

With budget cuts facing many school districts, it's unlikely that this situation will improve anytime in the near future. School buildings take a lot of wear and tear. Imagine how your floors would look at home if hundreds of people traipsed all over them every day. It's only obvious that these types of things will need replacing relatively frequently. Desks, chairs, and computers also receive a lot of use and will need to be on a similar replacement schedule. The more troublesome question is whether these are the types of things that teachers believe need more maintenance.

How are the school buildings fairing? Are we literally facing peeling paint and cracks in the ceilings at some schools? The next question has to be: what's the answer? Certainly increased government funding set aside specifically for capital expenditures and maintenance would help the situation. What else can be done? Fundraising? Work Parties? In the pioneer days community members chipped in time and materials to build and maintain school so their children had the opportunity to receive an education. Nowadays, we pay taxes so that the government will oversee upkeep and facility upgrades. When there is not enough money being put towards these types of issue, are there any other options?

The debate over school budgets and how and where money is allocated is not new, nor is it likely to disappear anytime soon. Let's just hope that the vast majority of schools out there are simply in need of a little elbow grease. Improved grounds keeping and carpet cleaning are a far cry from cracked walls and facilities in need of seismic upgrades.