Efforts to reinvent public education in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina have drawn such interest that it's easy to lose sight of some very concrete changes that will become obvious over time: A generation of brand-new school buildings is rising across the city. New Orleans is in the early stages of a construction spree both to build and…

Using data gathered from the West Virginia Education and Tax Departments, from school architects, from the State Building Trades Council, and from the United States Census Bureau, this study relates the per pupil cost of new school buildings in West Virginia to financial conditions, school district demography, and building characteristics. A total…