Presents data from the American School & University's annual Maintenance and Operations (M&O) Cost Study for the 1997-98 school year. Data include trends in building-operations-staff salaries and M&O costs expressed in dollars per student and per square foot. Results indicate an underfunding of M&O that may not provide students…

The cost of education climbed to $1,587.42 per student in 1977-78, exhibiting a significant 13.9 percent increase over the previous year. The increase was brought about largely by rising costs for instruction, especially teacher salaries. The only budget categories showing decreases were administration and attendance services. The national average…