Next Monday, Sept. 13, doors will open at the shimmering new Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools in Los Angeles — this country’s most expensive ever public school. The school was built on the site of the former Ambassador Hotel, where Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, and features stunning modern architecture, with a swimming pool, two soccer fields, an Art Deco faculty lounge, and murals illustrating Kennedy’s life.
At a cost of $578 million, though, the school has attracted a lot of criticism — especially in light of the tight budgets facing the district as a whole. Critics of the Robert F. Kennedy school include leaders of the group Parent Revolution, who argue the project is an inappropriate use of taxpayers’ money. On the other hand, supporters say it can be difficult to attach a value to the benefits of an architecturally spectacular school that has the real potential to inspire confidence in the mostly low-income students who live in the neighborhood it serves.
The project is nothing if not ambitious. The Robert F. Kennedy schools will serve a total of 4,200 students scattered throughout six different schools — and twice as many grades. In the past, some studies have suggested that great design can have a positive impact on student achievement, but was this school worth the price? And can you build a great school without a great building? What do you think?
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