Investing in Schools and Students

For Californians consumed with a sense of despair about the quality of public education--and that’s a lot of Californians these days--June 2 could prove to be a day of partial deliverance.

On the ballot are two statewide measures that, if approved, would authorize the sale of $1.9 billion in bonds for elementary and secondary school improvement and construction and of $900 million in bonds for public higher education improvement. These bond issues offer California an opportunity to put its money where its heart is. The Times reiterates its March 15 endorsement of both.

PROPOSITION 152: School districts across the state need to construct, reconstruct or modernize school buildings. The problem is that the State of California--under the dark shadow of a budget crisis--in recent years has had little money for this work. As a result, elementary and secondary school project applications are piled high--there is now almost $7 billion in unfunded projects. Passage of 152, a general-obligation measure, would put $1.9 billion into the public school construction and improvement account. In the face of rising enrollment and a weakening state treasury, failure to pass this measure would constitute cruel and unusual punishment for youngsters.

PROPOSITION 153: A similarly melancholy fiscal picture may be drawn for public higher education, including the University of California, California State University and the vast and vital community college system--about 138 campuses serving 2 million students. Proposition 153 would raise about $900 million for new buildings, for improving existing ones or providing building-support equipment.

Fiscal analyses of the state’s overall bond indebtedness conclude that passage of these two bond measures would not aggravate California’s overall fiscal problem. On the contrary, the bond money would trigger new waves of construction and renovation that would employ thousands. This could help stimulate recovery from the recession--while making a priceless investment in the work force of the future.