NEW YORK, Sept. 21 -- While school infrastructure problems are a perennial challenge, U.S. national data and dismal stories from teachers suggest the crises are reaching an apex, CNN reported.

"We're getting to a critical stage now," Mike Pickens, executive director of the National Council on School Facilities, was quoted as saying. "The average age of a school building now is from 49 to 50 years," the highest in memory.

"But as schools get older and more desperate for repairs, the funding gap for public schools keeps getting worse," said the report published on Sunday.

Students get sick, distracted or miss entire days of education when conditions turn abysmal; parents sacrifice income to provide child care when classes suddenly get canceled, according to the report.

Meanwhile, burnt-out teachers already stressed by the pandemic and school violence are pushed closer to leaving the profession, it added.

  - Xinhua