The Center for Public Integrity

Tight timelines set by the U.S. stimulus spending law may have muted the impact of a $3 billion  windfall for some of the nation’s poorest performing schools.

The stimulus money was poured into the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program, which had a congressional appropriation of $546 million for the 2010-11 school year. The total $3.5 billion in spending for the year represented at 30-fold increase from SIG’s first year of operations in fiscal 2007.

A broad review of SIG by the Government Accountability Office suggests that the amount of reform made possible by the unprecedented funding boost was hampered by rushed execution. “Short time frames affected schools’ ability to implement SIG interventions in many of the states we visited,” said the GAO’s first broad annual review of SIG.

Although the Education Department moved back the application deadline for the program to give states and school districts more time to plan how to use the funds, “as of June 24, 2011, six states, including the District of Columbia, were still awaiting approval of their SIG applications,” the GAO said.

As iWatch News reported in May, similar difficulties have occurred with more than $4 billion spent on education reform by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, computer magnate Michael Dell, investor Eli Broad, and the Walton family of Wal-Mart fame.  A computer analysis of graduation rates and test scores in 10 city school districts by iWatch News found most still substantially trailed their state’s overall rates.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is asking the Pentagon’s senior leadership to examine “every report” of substandard school buildings attended by the children of US military personnel, and to develop blueprints for correcting whatever problems are confirmed.

“Where there are problems,” Panetta said in a statement, “I want a plan in place to correct them.”

An investigation posted June 27 by iWatchNews revealed an array of substandard conditions at many of the 353 schools for military children worldwide. Three in four Defense Department-run schools on military installations are either beyond repair or would require extensive renovation to meet minimum standards for safety, quality, accessibility and design, the iWatchNews probe found. Schools run by public-school systems on Army posts don’t fare much better: 39 percent fail to meet even the military’s own standards, according to a 2010 Army report. 

The Defense Department, Panetta said, “is strongly committed to ensuring that the children of military families receive an excellent education,” and “high quality facilities and instruction are essential … to providing the kind of education they deserve.” He added that the Pentagon “must be and will be fully committed to the troops, their families, and their children.”

There’s been a flurry of response from politicians to an iWatchNews investigation of often-deplorable conditions at schools on military installations. The probe revealed that many of the 353 base schools around the globe are falling apart from age and neglect, and fail to meet even the military’s minimum standards.

Two former Virginia governors locked in a heated Senate race — Democrat Timothy Kaine and Republican George Allen — issued a rare joint statement Wednesday regarding the problems identified by iWatch News. Their statement asked, "Don't we as a country have a responsibility to these brave men and women — and their families — to ensure their children are provided for as their parents fight for our country?" The pair went on to say that "The simple answer is 'Yes,' and neither of us sees this as a partisan issue — or will allow it to become one."  

There's been action on Capitol Hill as well. On July 12, Congressman Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) requested that the Government Accountability Office  launch an inquiry into the state of base schools, calling school conditions “a very serious issue which demands immediate attention.” Six days later, on July 18, a dozen senators from both parties urged Leon Panetta, the newly appointed defense secretary, to make the repair and replacement of substandard base schools a priority.

A bipartisan group of senators is urging the Defense Department to address “the state of disrepair” of many schools on military installations in the wake of a recent iWatch News investigation about the conditions at those schools and the effect on children who attend them.

An investigation published June 27 by iWatch News revealed an array of substandard conditions at many of the 353 schools for military children worldwide. Three in four Defense Department-run schools on military installations are either beyond repair or would require extensive renovation to meet minimum standards for safety, quality, accessibility and design. Schools run by public systems on Army posts don’t fare much better: 39 percent fail to meet even the military’s own standards, according to a 2010 Army report.

In a letter to newly appointed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, 12 senators — seven Democrats, four Republicans, and one Independent — cited the iWatch News story, and described the extent of decrepit and overcrowded base schools as “deeply concerning.” The letter called on Panetta to make the renovation and reconstruction of Pentagon-run schools a high priority in the defense budget.

“Our military children should have educational facilities that enhance their learning, not facilities that cause distractions from learning or present real or potential hazards,” stated the July 18 letter, which was organized by Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Richard Burr, R-N.C., who chair the Senate Military Family Caucus and whose districts include military base schools.

The House of Representatives has defeated an effort to cut funding for repairs to decrepit and overcrowded schools on military installations. The conditions at those schools — and their effects on the thousands of soldiers’ children attending them — were the subject of a recent investigation by iWatch News.

The effort to eliminate renovation and construction funds came in the form of an amendment filed by Rep. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican. Flake’s amendment would have slashed the Pentagon’s “Operations and Maintenance” account in the fiscal year 2012 military spending bill by $250 million — thereby completely wiping out money appropriated for improvements at base schools run by local public-school systems. The proposed funding mirrors the $250 million set aside for substandard base schools operated by local districts this fiscal year, which Congress passed in April.

An investigation posted June 27 by iWatch News revealed an array of substandard conditions at many of the 353 schools for military children worldwide. Three in four Defense Department-run schools on military installations are either beyond repair or would require extensive renovation to meet minimum standards for safety, quality, accessibility and design, the iWatchNews probe found. Schools run by public systems on Army posts don’t fare much better: 39 percent fail to meet even the military’s own standards.

The school buildings described in Kristen Lombardi’s recent article are on-base facilities that many communities do not feel local taxpayers should be responsible for funding. Why? They primarily enroll military-dependent children only. So when an on-base school building needs repair or there is a need for a new building, the local community won’t support a bond referendum.

The federal government is responsible for providing funding to public schools serving military dependent students to build, repair or renovate buildings. That precedent was established 61 years ago when President Harry S Truman signed two laws that have become the foundation of what is now called Impact Aid.

Between 1951 and 1977, Congress appropriated more than $1.5 billion for public schools serving federally connected children — including military-dependent students — to build and repair school facilities to the tune of 6,505 projects. Congress consolidated education law in 1994 and merged school construction into the overall Impact Aid law.

But nothing is ever that simple in Washington and funding has not always flowed smoothly to local schools. The Education Law Center says: “Except for tax law that provides very favorable financing for school districts … the federal government has assumed no responsibility for the quality of public school facilities. There is no staff dedicated to this issue at the U.S. Department of Education … it is considered a local school district responsibility.”

The notion that school construction is and should be a local responsibility is a position shared by many congressional conservatives. They argue that public schools are locally controlled and financing should be decided by the communities that provide the funding.

After 10 years of war, are we neglecting the sons and daughters of U.S. military personnel? Is the decrepit shape of many of their schools adding to the strains they already feel from parents who are absent for many months if not years of their lives? Who should be responsible for the educational needs of military kids? 

These questions were at the heart of iWatch News reporter Kristen Lombardi's latest investigation into the worsening conditions of schools on U.S. military installations. On Tuesday, July 5th, Lombardi discussed her findings and their implications in a live panel discussion with readers.

Joining Lombardi on the panel was Joyce Raezer, executive director of the National Military Family Association; Ronald Walker, superintendent of Geary County Public Schools, which serve schools on the Fort Riley post in Kansas; and Norman Heitzman, former assistant schools superintendent for South Carolina-Fort Stewart-Cuba District, Department of Defense schools, which serve schools on Fort Stewart, in Georgia.

Replay the full transcript of the conversation below. If you have questions about the chat, or our investigation, you can tweet them to @iWatch using the hashtag #dodschools, or post them in the comments below. 

Nearly 2,600 sexual assaults were reported to the Pentagon last year, but the office in charge of overseeing investigations of these assaults has failed to live up to its duty, according to the Government Accountability Office.

In 2006, the Defense Department put measures to prevent sexual assault into place, and an inspector general was put in charge of oversight. So far, the GAO investigation found, “The inspector general’s office has not performed these responsibilities, primarily because it believes it has other, higher priorities."

If this continues, the accountability office warned, the IG "will remain limited in its ability to help ensure consistency and accountability."

The report highlights the longstanding issue of justice in sexual assault cases, which both the military and college campuses have struggled with in recent years. As an iWatch News investigation showed, sexual assaults often happen without consequence because of poor policies at the highest levels.

In a response, the inspector general's office said it agreed with the recommendations and would make GAO’s recommended changes for fiscal year 2012. Reported sexual assaults were actually down in fiscal 2010, from 3,230 a year earlier.

The IG office did not accept that it had failed to live up to its mission.

"We disagree with the characterization that the DoD IG has not performed its responsibilities," said Inspector General Gordon Heddell in a statement emailed to iWatch News. "We've addressed the important issue of combatting sexual assault with the most senior officials in the Department and together expect to make progress in addressing this issue."