According to a report at Think Progress, school modernization is touted by the current administration as good for education and beneficial to the economy. Vice President Joe Biden’s former chief economist Jared Bernstein asserted that school modernization is a “smart way to get a lot of people who really need jobs back to work, fix a critical part of our institutional infrastructure, save energy costs, provide kids with a better, healthier learning environment, and do so in a way that everyone can see and feel good about each morning when they drop their kids off at school.”
This video from the National Education Association makes the point that Education Support Professional workers say "Safe and healthy schools mean better learning and working conditions for students and school employees".
A second piece of data listed in the Think Progress report supports the fact the modernization of school buildings is a proven job generator. The Economic Policy Institute is quoted as saying, “Using existing school aid formulas, Congress could allocate money to the 100 biggest school districts and the state education agencies to put people to work within a matter of weeks…By next summer, hundreds of thousands of workers could be employed in making improvements to facilities in every school district.”
President Obama, in his address to Congress where he outlined his job package, summed it up simply by asking, “How can we expect our kids to do their best in places that are literally falling apart?” Obama added, “This is America. Every child deserves a great school…and we can give it to them if we act now.”