High Hurdle for Vital Prop. BB

According to a Times Poll, 64% of Los Angeles voters care deeply about public education and support Proposition BB, the school bond issue on Tuesday’s ballot. That’s good but not good enough because tax increases require approval by two-thirds of the voters, more than 66%. That high threshold and a low voter turnout could stymie the $2.4-billion repair and construction bond measure for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its defeat would hurt students on every LAUSD campus and ultimately hurt our city as a whole.

Some voters question district officials’ ability to manage the proceeds wisely. They should be persuaded otherwise by the Board of Education’s new fiscal oversight watchdog committee of financial, architectural and engineering experts. Its job: to ensure that the bond money would be spent efficiently and effectively. This safeguard also should reassure property owners, being asked to pay initially about $15 more per $100,000 in property value in annual property taxes, a figure that could rise to $60 or more a year as the bonds are paid off.

Every student would benefit, in large part from changes that would make the district’s 900 schools and centers attractive, comfortable and up-to-date. This public investment would deal with a $600-million backlog in repairs and provide $900 million for new schools, giving the district a higher priority when Sacramento hands out matching school construction funds.

Proposition BB funds would be used to wire every classroom for computers, improve security and school safety, reduce class sizes and relieve overcrowding, repair leaky roofs, replace ancient boilers and broken plumbing systems, paint schools, fix faulty wiring, repair decaying walls and repave unsafe playgrounds.

In the often blistering San Fernando Valley, air-conditioning will be a top priority. You can’t study in a hothouse, and, if BB passes, the 100 hottest campuses will be first to get relief.

Some of the funds would be devoted to bringing schools up to earthquake safety codes. Voters last approved a school bond issue after the 1971 Sylmar earthquake damaged many campuses. The need is even greater today.

Proposition BB is a referendum on the quality of our schools and the future of our students. Two-thirds of the voters can make the difference. Be one of them. Vote yes on BB.