districts can be accomplished quickly, the necessary new classrooms could be built less expensively than they can be built now. Whether school boards stick to their apparent resolve to build classrooms of high quality, with additional facilities such as gymnasiums, cafeterias, and auditoriums, or whether they decide to resort to emergency construction measures will have great affect upon cost. Because so many of these factors are imponderable at the present time-and subject to change from one estimate to the next-this Committee has made no attempt to pinpoint the shortage of school buildings in terms of dollars. Responsible people have estimated the sum which should be spent on school buildings by 1960 as everything from $10 billion to $15 billion. These figures are useful mainly to give a rough idea of the extent of the problem, and as a framework for national planning. More precise estimates will have to await additional research, many decisions made at the State and local levels concerning the reorganization of school districts, and the quality of buildings wanted. If the people of this Nation continue to want school buildings of high quality, if resistance to the reorganization of school districts continues in many States, if the birthrate remains high, and if construction costs rise, most estimates of the amount of money needed for new schools will prove to be low.

Prospects for Meeting the Shortage

With almost half the reporting States losing ground in the race to construct enough classrooms, many of the factors which created the building shortage remain active. The babies born during the war will themselves become parents before long. People still move from one State to another, and construction costs constantly climb. Nationally, a dollar bought only about 40 percent as much new school construction in 1955 as in 1930.

The fact that almost half the States say they are losing ground in the race to provide enough school buildings for all children is obviously cause for concern. The States which are lagging behind do not seem to be concentrated in any particular region-they are scattered throughout the Nation. Statistics indicate that in most States, building needs are greatest in suburbs. Small cities rank second in need, and big cities third. The need for new school building is apparently least in rural areas.

In most States, there is a wide variety of realistic obstacles to progress in building enough schools. Two of the most serious of these are obsolete building codes and limitations on taxation for new school construction. The shortage of funds is discussed in detail in the section of this Committee's report dealing with school finance. Finance is, of course, an all-important aspect of the school building shortage. To state the case in its briefest and most blunt terms, the shortage

of school buildings persists largely because of a shortage of money. Efforts must be pressed to use each dollar allocated for school construction more efficiently through the reorganization of local school districts and the modernization of building codes, but no matter how effectively the money is spent, much greater sums must be made available. Only then can the new ideal of a good education for every American child be translated into terms of bricks and mortar.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The above conclusions and the supporting data on which they are based lead this Committee to make the following eight recommendations:

1. That every community determine its school-building needs in terms of the educational program established for the schools, and that new school construction be authorized only after a careful analysis of the pattern of district organization.

2. That equal consideration be given to the quality as is given to the quantity of schools needed. Groups of laymen and educators studying school construction in local school districts should take into account the great variety of facilities people want in a school building in addition to classrooms.

3. That encouragement be given to legislative efforts to modernize school-building codes and that States liberalize conditions for raising money for capital outlay.

4. That research and experimentation in the field of school housing be increased at both the national and State levels, and that financial support be provided.

5. That every State department of education have a division of schoolhouse planning with adequate finance for both research and service to the local school districts.

6. That the plans of the United States Office of Education for research in school-building needs be supported by adequate appropriations of funds.

7. That communication among local school districts, States, and the United States Office of Education on school-building requirements be improved greatly, with State departments responsible for furnishing to the United States Office of Education uniform statistics on schoolbuilding needs, construction, and costs.

8. That continued study be given to the use of new building materials and methods of construction as possible means of effecting economies.

Tables giving specific information on the need for school buildings in the various States follow.

Table 2.-Public-school classrooms to be built in 1955-56 as reported by chief State school officers

Projected total for 53 States, Territories and District of Columbia, on the basis of 1950 population. Projected total for 53 States, Territories and District of Columbia, on the basis of fall, 1955, public school enrollments..

1 Answer based on systematic, quantitative data.

2 Answer based on scattered or incomplete data.

3 Answer based on general knowledge or information.

Source: Item 6 of Form WHC-F-1 (questionnaire sent to chief State school officers by WHC Subcommittee on School Buildings).

NOTE.-(1) "Junior-senior" high schools are listed in "Senior high" columns; (2) the nature of the data submitted precludes the agreement of totals.

54, 484

53, 137