Given the breadth and complexity of the current school improvement movement, the upgrading of physical structures may be the only specific reform area demanding a straight-forward approach. The widespread physical disrepair and overcrowding characterizing today's innercity schools provide students with no viable alternative to urban squalor and…

This report takes the experience of one city--Chicago, Illinois--and uses it as a detailed example of how the struggle to rebuild U.S. schools, particularly a large-scale program, has fared in the real world, highlighting the need for a federal role in helping state and local governments fix its school buildings and relieve overcrowding. Chapter…

Ben Reyes, chief operating officer of the Chicago Public Schools, tells how the district managed, in eight months, a turnaround from no capital improvement funds. Three major investment houses upgraded the district's bond ratings, opening the doors for a 5-year, $806 million capital improvement plan for the city's schools. (MLF)