School Construction in U.S. Tops $15 Billion

By Bess Keller

Public school districts poured a record $15 billion into construction last year, and the upward trend is likely to continue for at least a few more years, an annual study of industry trends shows.

"It's exciting to see all the construction and all the attention paid to accommodating technology," said Jane Lieberth, the editor of School Planning and Management magazine, which published the survey this month.

Districts erected new schools, added to existing ones, and completed major upgrades of their facilities to the tune of $15.46 billion in 1998--almost $3 billion above the previous year's sum,...