President's School Construction Plan Debated

Washington

The stories are familiar to school administrators: gaping holes in school roofs, crumbling walls etched with lead paint, heating systems that don't work, and other serious structural problems that have become commonplace in many districts.

Other educators talk of endless rows of flimsy portable classrooms hauled in to deal with overcrowding, or "multipurpose" rooms that serve as cafeterias, gyms, libraries, and assembly rooms...