In many parts of the country it is difficult for families, particularly low- or moderate- income families to afford a suitable home in a transit-rich neighborhood with good schools. This report synthesizes the ideas and policy recommendations from a national convening of local, state, and federal stakeholders from across the country on innovative policy and…
After decades of dedicated investment, state funding to assist local California school districts in the construction, modernization, and maintenance of their school facilities has come to a halt. Our analysis of school facility spending across California finds that, compared to industry standards, there is an ongoing, structural pattern of inadequate and inequitable spending in many…
K-12 public school facilities need regular investment to ensure student health and safety and support educational programming. Yet, the future of K-12 school facility funding in California is uncertain. A strong state-local partnership has existed that funded new construction, modernization, and other investments in public school facilities across the state since 1998, under the School…
California lawmakers are debating the future of the state’s role in providing school construction and modernization funds to local school districts – a school facility funding role the state has played since 1947. Previous statewide school construction bond authority is exhausted. To inform this policy debate, our paper describes the role each of the 50 states plays…
Under California’s new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) K-12 funding system, Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs) must address “school facilities in good repair. ” (as defined in California Education Code § 17002d). This webinar will give participants the knowledge and tools to actively participate in their school districts good repair plan. (Sponsored by The…
Joint use of public school facilities is a complex but manageable approach to efficiently enhancing the services and programs available to students and supporting the community use of public schools. Building upon on our 2010 paper Joint Use of Public Schools: A Framework for a New Social Contract, this paper identifies the policy framework needed…
Despite the growing interest in expanding the joint use of K–12 public schools by public health and planning practitioners to promote healthy, sustainable communities, the topic has received little attention in the urban planning and public health scholarship. The objective of this article is to situate joint use in the academic literature focused on the…
Access to safe, affordable, and convenient transportation shapes the ‘geography of opportunity’ for many children and youth. This study looks at howlocalities across the country are implementing new and innovative alternative approaches to student transportation that expand regional transportation access for K-12 students, improve cost-effectiveness, and leverage inter-agency partnerships beyond the traditional yellow school bus.
The School Facilities Cost Calculator: A Joint-Use Tool for Fair Fees, a free tool that helps school districts and communities determine the costs of owning and operating their facilities and develop a fair and transparent joint-use fee structure, is now available in an interactive web-based format. The Cost Calculator includes rich data from nearly 15,000…
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Volume 2357, pgs 77-85 Abstract Transit-oriented development (TOD) remains a popular strategy to achieve environmentally sustainable infill development and auto use reduction. Typically, TOD in the United States offers retail amenities and housing catering to single individuals, childless couples, and empty nesters. Municipal and regional leaders…
On December 6, 2012, UC Berkeley’s Center for Cities & Schools, in collaboration with the California Department of Education, California Department of Public Health, Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, Strategic Growth Council, and Health in All Policies Task Force, brought together leaders from across California to discuss the alignment of important policy agendas: ensuring…
SFUSD, like many districts, allows use of its classrooms, gymnasiums, and other indoor facilities to external groups. But similar to other districts, SFUSD has struggled to apply use fees consistently, fairly and equitably. Building from the recommendations of the 2010 report, San Francisco’s Public School Facilities as Public Assets: A Shared Understanding and Policy Recommendations…
This paper was chosen for Smart Growth Network’s compendium, The National Conversation on the Future of Our Communities, in February 2013. The project’s aim is to start a conversation on thorny issues the smart growth movement has yet to resolve, issues that have received too little attention, and issues that have escaped us altogether. Our…
Schools trying to be integrated and serve their local communities often face a challenging question: Are “diversity” and “walkability” compatible? This summary document, drawn from a national dialogue among leaders in health and public education, with accompanying research, answers this question in the affirmative. The report highlights key obstacles and outlines the full range of factors that…
This report takes a comprehensive look at the state of K-12 school facilities in California, focusing on state-level policies and funding patterns. The recommendations lay out a detailed framework that re-envisions the state’s role in K-12 infrastructure to appropriately support educational quality and contribute to healthy, sustainable communities goals. Our hope is that this report…
The Center for Transit-Oriented Development (CTOD) and CC+S at the University of California, Berkeley, released “TOD 205 – Families and Transit-Oriented Development: Creating Complete Communities for All,” the seventh in the Federal Transit Administration-sponsored series of reports explaining the best practices of transit-oriented development. This guidebook illustrates why planningfor transit-oriented development that serves families is…
In this chapter, we describe efforts to connect efforts to improve public education to housing and transportation planning initiatives, particularly through collaborative city-school-regional partnerships. The chapter appears in the 2011 report, “Finding Common Ground: Coordinating Housing and Education Policy to Promote Integration.by the Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC) and the National Coalition on…
In 2010 the What Works Collaborative invited CC&S to examine the ways in which sustainable community planning could work with school leaders to foster positive educational outcomes. The report illustrates policies and strategies at all levels of government are increasingly associating educational outcomes with community planning and housing. Challenges remain for local officials and practitioners trying…
CC&S and ABAG partnered to support and inform local and regional innovation connecting schools to the Bay Area’s regional development and conservation strategy (FOCUS) and the Sustainable Communities Strategy as mandated by California’s climate change legislation, Senate Bill 375. Our new report identifies tangible policy levers at both the regional and municipal levels that realize…
CC+S chapter in the book Changing Places: How Communities Will Improve the Health of Boys of Color (edited by Christopher Edley, Jr. and Jorge Ruiz de Velasco; University of California Press 2010). The book draws attention to the urgent need— both economic and moral—to better understand the policy and community- based factors that serve as…
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