Our nation’s public schools are important elements of public social and physical infrastructure. The quality of cities depends on the quality of schools. Likewise, the quality of schools depends on the quality of cities. This article is focused on looking at our public schools as public infrastructure, particularly in the context of inner cities and older suburbs. The article argues that there is a profound and detrimental “cities and schools disconnect,” and as a field, planning has virtually ignored our public schools. City planning scholars need to increase their engagement with public schools and school facilities and think more critically about how development and redevelopment decisions ultimately impact our public schools.

Most Americans are not sufficiently physically active, even though regular physical activity improves health and reduces the risk of many chronic diseases. Those living in rural, non-White, and lower-income communities often have insufficient access to places to be active, which can contribute to their lower level of physical activity. The shared use of school recreational facilities can provide safe and affordable places for communities. Studies suggest that challenges to shared use include additional cost, liability protection, communication among constituencies interested in sharing space, and decision-making about scheduling and space allocation. This American Heart Association policy statement has provided recommendations for federal, state, and local decision-makers to support and expand opportunities for physical activity in communities through the shared use of school spaces.

j o u r na l of e du c at i on f i na n ce against the benefits of the better "product" realized by these regulations; and third, a better understanding of the interactions among regulations within a state's whole regulatory environment is needed. i n troduc tion The public education construction sector has seen significant and unprecedented growth in the last decade (Filardo et al. 2006; Abramson 2007; Agron 2007). A recent analysis reports that the nation's public school districts spent more than $500 billion for capital between 1995 and 2004, building more than 12,000 new schools and managing more than 130,000 renovation and other improvement projects to existing schools (Filardo et al. 2006). Between 2000 and 2007, school construction expenditures across the country consistently exceeded record levels (Abrahamson 2007). Despite this enormous investment, little tracking or analyses of costs and spending have been conducted, though many school districts continually struggle to pay for new schools. Given the extent of public dollars being invested in new public schools across the country, it is no surprise that the cost of school construction is making headlines. Rising capital costs are negatively affecting districts' ability to provide the promised schools. In California, the Orange County Register (June 18, 2006) found that due to cost increases, only six of 19 local school districts that passed construction bonds since 1990 (totaling $1.7 billion) were delivering every project promised in their original bond. Two-thirds of these districts were being forced to scale back. As noted by one superintendent, "You tell me how we can do all the work we needed when construction costs go up by 30% across the board?" Homeowners become reluctant to increase their property taxes to pay for new schools. The Indiana legislature, for example, debated a bill that sought to help taxpayers control school construction costs and reduce debt service payments on new facilities by creating standardized plans-the rationale being that such a strategy would eliminate some significant architectural design fees on each project. Most recently, the Seattle Times reported that their school district has predicted that construction costs will rise 30% over the next three years (January 14, 2008). Despite the dramatic effects costs are having on local school districts and communities, little research has been done on the determinants of school construction costs. School facilities, in addition to being large complex structures, are public and tend to have greater regulatory controls placed upon them compared to other construction projects. As a result, practitioners have argued that this makes them inherently more expensive than building comparable private-owned buildings (Vincent and McKoy 2008). Moreover, evolving trends in educational facility requirements, such as early childhood education, smaller

Operating out of the University of California, Berkeley, Y-PLAN (Youth—Plan, Learn, Act, Now!) is a model for youth civic engagement in city planning that uses urban space slated for redevelopment as a catalyst for community revitalization and education reform. The program partners graduate level mentors, high school students, government agencies, private interests, and other community members who work together on a real-world planning problem. This article analyzes the data produced by Y-PLAN between 2000 and 2005 and demonstrates the model's effectiveness in fostering positive community outcomes and meaningful learning experiences, as well as its theoretical implications for the planning and education fields. We have identified three central conditions on which the success of the Y-PLAN rests: 1) authentic problems engage diverse stakeholders and foster a “community of practice”; 2) adult and youth partners share decision-making; and 3) projects build sustainable individual and institutional success.

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 links between built environments and health. I examine the “state of the field” of K–12 joint use through studying the academic and associated literature, interviews, participant observation, and case examples. I develop a joint use classification system to aid researchers and practitioners.