Education, in the United States, is accomplished through a highly fragmented system of school districts nested within sovereign states governed by locally elected school boards. The laws governing the built environment in American public schools are fragmented horizontally (between states) and vertically (Federal, State, and local). This fragmentation has resulted in a national system of public schools where there are no consensus standards regulating its built environment. This loosely regulated environment exposes its occupants to known health hazards with the resultant marginal social costs absorbed by society.

This dissertation explores the history of the built environment in American public schools and which environmental factors are known to adversely impact the health of students. Next, this dissertation explores the effectiveness of federal and state policies related to the built environment using the CDC's 2006 School Health Policies and Procedures Study. Finally, this dissertation proposes an alternative policy to improve efficiency and provide for continuous quality improvement in public schools.

The results of the dissertation reveal that state level policies related to the built environment of public schools have minimal effect on district and school-level policies and procedures. Greater local control, state control or federal control over district or school level compliance will most likely not significantly improve the unsafe and unhealthy conditions in American public schools. Two policies are recommended: (1) elimination of vestigial intermediate units of bureaucracy between local school districts and state educational agencies that impede diffusion of policy; and (2) establish mandatory validation surveys for compliance with minimal conditions of participation modeled after the Social Security Act for all public schools receiving federal funds.