Across the nation, large urban school districts are experiencing premature and rapidly accelerating deterioration of school buildings. The conditions of buildings and equipment, most importantly in classrooms and school support spaces, are deteriorating to the point of hindering the core mission of schools: educating children. This report is the culmination of two years of work by over two dozen school facilities and finance executives from member districts and industry, all of whom offered their considerable expertise "pro bono." The report describes how school districts, financially squeezed over long periods of time, made economic decisions that reduced the most cost-effective types of maintenance work: preventive and predictive maintenance. The result of those decisions "to save money" will, in the long term actually increase the amount and frequency of much more expensive breakdown repair and replacement work. Data from multiple authoritative sources reveal that the deteriorating condition of schools has a direct and significant impact on the achievement of students and the effectiveness of teachers. The report contains contemporary references that link the conditions of school buildings to student achievement and a variety of other issues. It also provides information and references to a variety of strategies that have proven successful in reversing the cycle of deterioration. This report is organized into the following chapters: (1) Determining the Relationships among School Building Conditions, Student Achievement, School Safety, and Community Relations; (2) Calculating School Building Life-Cycle Investments, Life-Cycle Costs, and the Costs of Deferring Maintenance; (3) Facilities Condition Assessment and Major Repair/Replacement Program Planning; (4) Identifying Successful Strategies and Methods Used in Maintaining School Buildings and Equipment; (5) Determining Correct Methods and Amounts for Allocating Resources to Maintain School Buildings and equipment; (6) Creating a Model for Effective Community Relations; and (7) Mining Resources for Maintaining School Buildings and Equipment. Individual chapters contain reference and resources.