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Once again we have a school bond measure on the ballot. The Peace and Freedom Party will not tell you how to vote. Here are some of the issues:
Proposition 55 would provide $12.3 billion for school construction and modernization. $10.2 billion would go toward K-12 schools and $2.3 billion for higher education. Of the K-12 portion, $5.26 billion is earmarked for new construction projects and $2.25 billion for modernization of existing facilities. The proposition directs that $2.44 billion (almost a fifth) must be used to relieve overcrowding in the nearly 1,000 schools that are "critically overcrowded" -- that is, they have two to three times the number of students allowed by the state's school density guidelines.
Up to $300 million (or 2.4%) of the bond money is available for charter school construction.
The money for the school bond is borrowed money. Over the life of the bond, the amount paid back is about double the original amount. (But bond supporters point out that if you allow for inflation, it might be more like $1.25 on the dollar, since the loan will be paid back with money that's worth less than the money borrowed.) In addition, the people who buy the bonds get tax-free income from the state. The rest of us pay taxes to support this income.
Aside from the "critically overcrowded" schools and the districts which qualify for hardship money, the state money will go to districts in which the population is willing to pass local matching bonds.
When our local school districts pass their own bonds to match state money, the source for repayment of these tax-free bonds is local taxes, which are almost always more regressive than state taxes. In other words, the rich get richer, the better off get better schools, and the rest get crumbs.
It seems the State of California can only fix its schools by using bond money. We need to change that situation.
In the meantime, what about the one million children who attend schools with bathrooms that don't work?
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