2 PROPOSITIONS : Bonds Would Build Schools

The number of school-age children in California is expected to increase by 1.7 million in the next 10 years--that is, roughly equivalent to the total populations of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. The California Post Secondary Education Commission predicts that in the next 15 years, another 700,000 students are expected to enroll in the University of California, the California State University and the community college systems. To have the classroom space necessary to accommodate millions more students, the state must prepare now. Propositions 121 and 123, two bond measures on the June 5 ballot, are crucial to the foundation on which to build the state’s education future.

Proposition 123 is an $800-million school bond measure that would help provide, without raising taxes, more public schools and classroom space for kindergarten through the 12th grade. The measure carries the endorsement of both Gov. George Deukmejian and Bill Honig, state superintendent of public instruction. Proposition 123 is not a cure-all; Los Angeles Unified School District, which already buses more than 25,000 students to relieve overcrowded classrooms, needs more than $1 billion to build new schools and make safety improvements. Another bond measure similar to Proposition 123 is expected for the November ballot. And Honig and other educators are pushing for an eventual constitutional change that would make it easier for local school bond issues to pass so that the state burden is eased.

But for now, Proposition 123 is a start toward coping with a swelling school population that deserves, at the very minimum, adequate classroom space and earthquake-safe schools.

Proposition 121 is a similar bond measure for construction and renovation of higher education buildings. If approved by voters it would raise $450 million in bonds to be divided equally among the UC, Cal State and community college systems. This measure, too, has broad support. Passage of Proposition 121 would allow building expansion in order to keep up with enrollment increases. Necessary renovations also would be made, such as the upgrading of old buildings to meet current earthquake standards and the retrofitting of buildings to make them accessible to the disabled. A vote for Propositions 121 and 123 is a vote to provide adequate and safe space in which to educate California’s young citizens.