Fixing schools the "FAST" way

Great op-ed piece in today's Washington Post explaining the FAST proposal:

"Fix America’s Schools Today is a proposal — from the 21st Century School Fund, the Economic Policy Institute and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities — to address the backlog of repairs at the nation’s 100,000 public schools. It’s an idea that efficiently marries big problems to a big solution.

One big problem is that most school districts in our country have been deferring maintenance and repairs for years. The has led to inefficient, and thus expensive, energy use, unsafe drinking water, mold, poor air quality, inadequate fire safety systems and structural dangers. With local governments hammered by the recession, school districts do not have the resources to address this backlog, nor will they for many years to come.

The other big problem is that after the housing bust, employment opportunities crashed for construction workers. So far this year, their unemployment rate has averaged 18 percent.

An efficient and common-sense solution is a government infrastructure program to put many of these workers back on the job fixing our nations’ schools."

Among stating a number of obvious benefits, the piece also goes on to say:

"Such an initiative also conveys an important message to our children. It’s hard for them to square the message that we, their parents, are concerned about and committed to their educational success when we send them off to schools that are in ill-repair or even unsafe."

One thing that also can't be overlooked is how many of those unemployed construction workers have children going to those crumbling schools? The emotional benefit of this proposal is one that cannot be quantified.