There is growing number of proposals to develop a federal school construction program that shares the financial burden with local governments for renovating their obsolete school facilities or building new ones. This report examines recent public school construction projects; the efforts to make school construction a federal responsibility; alternatives to federal and state borrowing, including approaches from selected countries; and the advantages and benefits of private-public partnerships in school construction in the United States. Concluding comments examine the federal role in school construction and the legislative direction, as well as the risks inherent in establishing such a role. (Contains 28 references.) (GR)