Teachers and activists are rebuilding dilapidated schools with ongoing funding

Students and teachers are seeing first-hand the challenges of climate change, including battling extreme heat fueled by poor air quality and ventilation, and many days missed due to heat waves and wildfire smoke. It all hurts student performance and makes learning difficult.

A newly formed coalition of school districts, educators, and non-profit organizations envisions a solution available to all schools, one that not only alleviates these disruptions, but also addresses inequity and underfunding and improves our failing schools. Half of the nation’s elementary schools are more than a century old, with near-failing repair scores from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Using an IRA

By using the funding sources and grants available in the Depreciation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, schools can receive lower payments for all types of infrastructure investments that can help them improve their resilience and save money. Organizations like Undaunted K12 are pushing schools to take advantage of the nation’s biggest clean energy investment.

For example, the Treasury Department estimates that K-12 schools spend $8 billion a year on energy bills alone; Advocates argue that by entering renewable energy IRA programs to install solar panels or geothermal heating systems, schools can ensure that more of their money is redirected from utility profits to other school budget priorities. The Batesville, Arkansas district, for example, saved so much with solar that it was able to raise teacher pay.

The IRA and Infrastructure Bill provides many ways to retrofit buildings and add renewable energy. There are incentives to convert substandard playgrounds to grass playgrounds, and invest in retrofits or HVAC systems to improve energy efficiency and air quality. The IRA, for example, pays 30% of the cost of installing solar panels to reduce energy bills—already used in more than 8,000 US schools—and a total of $5 billion for electric school buses (US public schools use 480,000 national buses).

‘This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our schools’

Heather Dietzel, Milwaukee Public School’s Facilities and Maintenance Susibility project manager, says schools in her district are applying for every grant they can get. For example, the district has approximately 142 school sites covered with asphalt, which reflects heat, increases the urban heat effect, and prevents storm water runoff. Dietzel’s team, along with local nonprofit Reflo, is applying for an IRA grant to help tear up that asphalt and add grass and plants to improve weather resistance.

Kat Klawes, a former teacher in Wisconsin and Flint, Michigan, now serves as the climate coordinator for Citizen Action of Wisconsin, and has worked with teachers across southeastern Wisconsin in applying for grants for solar panels, HVAC, heat pumps, and other projects.

“I feel like the austerity legislation and the Justice 40 program is one of the biggest steps we’ve taken in decades to address inequality in our schools,” said Klawes, referring to the IRA’s pledge to direct 40% of funding to underserved communities. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our schools.”

While the IRA passed in 2022, it took months of rulemaking and government regulatory work to finalize how these benefits and tax breaks would work. Many potential benefits have only been open for applications for the past six months, Klawes said, and many schools and teachers don’t know what’s available and possible.

It is too early to have absolute numbers on how many schools have applied, and how many. But advocates expect the final figures to be much higher. Since most benefits are passive, meaning they are available to anyone who qualifies, and last until 2032, schools still have years to plan, apply and build.

According to some of the teachers, administrators, and lawyers involved, the initiative to use these benefits is increasing rapidly, especially after the establishment of a payment system for institutions such as schools. Klawes added that it is important for all schools to have the resources to apply for and manage the grants, as these awards can sometimes be won equally by districts with more resources.

Some schools have already invested in these types of renewable efforts, such as the recently opened Forest Edge Elementary in Dane County, Wisconsin, which already runs on solar and geothermal and will apply for rebates that will fully pay for green energy projects.

Adding solar power

In Las Vegas, Elizabeth Becker, a former teacher turned IRA Campaign Coordinator for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, is pursuing the development of a solar energy installation in the Clark County School District. Currently, 42 of the 386 schools in the district, the fifth largest in the US, have solar power, and many have small arrays, only 100 kilowatts. Becker wants funding for all schools to have 500kW to 1MW arrays, which helps offset some of the district’s $120 million energy bill, and redirects that money to other school needs. With acres and acres of parking lots and school roofs that could be covered with solar panels, Becker believes the aggressive installation could cover the school’s energy needs and free up money for other long-standing challenges.

“There’s a lot of deferred maintenance that needs to be done, we’re always putting out fires,” Becker said. “This could help fix that problem.”

Dietzel says that some teachers working on these efforts are willing, but many have also been inspired by students who express their concern about climate change, and ask what is being done to help—especially in their schools. It helps that his district is at the forefront of climate issues, passing a climate justice resolution in 2020 that pushes for more action and adaptation.

New teaching tools

“Our first goal with this is a better student experience,” said Dietzel. “Also, if students can see us doing work to reduce climate change, they will be better prepared for those kinds of jobs, and take over from us one day.”

Many educators see these infrastructure investments—new solar panels, or green school yards—as not just necessary improvements, but teaching tools to help with lessons about the environment, energy, and sustainability. Dietzel sees it as walking, and helping kids learn about these issues.

“I think some people think that the kids don’t feel what’s going on, they don’t feel the heat, and they don’t realize that they’re out of school because the classrooms are so hot,” said Dietzel. “They all know, and they hear what’s going on, and they see the adults maybe not reacting with the urgency they expected.”