Public school districts use private contractors to provide support services in an effort to save money, improve services and better prioritize district resources. The Mackinac Center has surveyed school districts about their use of contractors since 2001. This year's survey revealed that 69.7% of schools contract out for food, custodial or…

Public institution facility operations and maintenance is a significant factor enabling an institution to achieve its stated objectives in the delivery of public service. To meet the societal need, Facility Directors must make increasingly complex decisions managing the demands of building infrastructure performance expectations with limited…

In 2002 the Council of the Great City Schools and its members set out to develop performance measures that could be used to improve business operations in urban public school districts. The Council launched the Performance Measurement and Benchmarking Project to achieve these objectives. The purposes of the project were to: (1) Establish a common…

In 2002 the Council of the Great City Schools and its members set out to develop performance measures that could be used to improve business operations in urban public school districts. The Council launched the Performance Measurement and Benchmarking Project to achieve these objectives. The purposes of the project were to: (1) Establish a common…

Portland Public Schools serves nearly 50,000 students in 90 schools averaging 77 years of age. Building age combined with decades of deferred maintenance created serious health and safety issues, numerous unfavorable media reports, and an irate public. In response, PPS Board of Directors commissioned an independent evaluation of various…

The present paper deals with a wide range of issues related to the environmental quality in learning spaces, such as thermal and visual comfort, as well as energy efficiency. All of these issues fall under the umbrella of the UN Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Upon reviewing publications of past studies, interviews were…

In 2001, contracting out for school support services by Michigan school districts was a rare practice. Less than one in three districts used private providers for food, custodial or transportation services. Today, 16 years later, the tables have completely turned: it is more unusual to find a district that does not outsource at least one of these…

Michigan's public school districts are government entities that occasionally use private contractors to provide them with support services. The 2018 privatization survey found that 70.5 percent of Michigan's school districts -- 380 of the 539 districts in the state -- contract out for food, custodial or transportation services. This is a slight…

This set of tables introduces new data for national and state-level public elementary and secondary revenues and expenditures for fiscal year (FY) 2017. Specifically, this report includes the following school finance data: (1) revenue and expenditure totals; (2) revenues by source; (3) expenditures by function and object; (4) current expenditures;…

The set of tables in this report introduces new data for national and state-level public elementary and secondary revenues and expenditures for fiscal year (FY) 2018. Specifically, this report includes the following school finance data: (1) revenue and expenditure totals; (2) revenues by source; (3) expenditures by function and object; (4) current…

The National Council on School Facilities is interested in maintaining good quality local, state, and national facilities data that can be analyzed and reported to inform policy, practice, and spending. The "State of Our Schools" 2016 report examined 20 years of school district and state funding for K-12 public school facilities…

This set of tables introduces new data for national and state-level public elementary and secondary revenues and expenditures for fiscal year (FY) 2019. Specifically, this report includes the following school finance data: (1) revenue and expenditure totals; (2) revenues by source; (3) expenditures by function and object; (4) current expenditures;…

Public school districts are government entities, but they rely on the private sector to support their function of delivering educational services to students. Private contractors, for example, construct district buildings, write textbooks and manufacture the supplies necessary to keep the district operational, among other things. And over the past…

In 1935, as part of a relief project funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA 65-66-7752), the State of Texas undertook a statistical and research study of the Texas Public School situation with particular attention to be paid to the efficiency of the existing organization of administrative units, adequacy of public school plants, and the…

This report presents data on public elementary and secondary education revenues and expenditures at the local education agency (LEA) or school district level for fiscal year (FY) 2018. Specifically, this report includes the following types of school district finance data: (1) revenue, current expenditure, and capital outlay expenditure totals; (2)…