VOTE NO ON 55
And while you are at it:
Californians: Click on image for more info
Posted on 02/07/2004 8:48:33 PM PST by calcowgirl
MONTEREY, Calif. -- Students at La Mesa Elementary School in Monterey walk to class beneath scaffolding that lines the hallway. It's not there for construction; it's there to ensure that the unstable and rotting ceiling doesn't fall on the children.
"It will at least keep it off the kids' heads if the roof comes down," said principal Roger Dahl.
Like many campuses, La Mesa has "perpetually deferred" maintenance and repairs because they lacked the money to do the work, Dahl said. Now, the school needs $250,000 to fix the roof over the hall and the teachers' lounge, where leaks caused the false ceiling to fall away and the floor tiles have buckled from standing water.
"I could drop a million dollars and you wouldn't even see it. Sidewalks, doors, windows - it's an old school," he said.
The Monterey elementary school is among scores of campuses that are in line for repairs, modernization or new buildings that could be funded by Proposition 55, the $12.3 billion bond measure.
The Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act on the March 2 ballot is the second half of $25.35 billion in bonds the Legislature authorized in 2002 to put in front of voters. The first half, authorizing $13.05 billion in bonds, was approved in November 2002.
Proposition 55 puts $10 billion into building, modernizing and relieving overcrowded K-12 schools. It also allots $2.3 billion for higher education - including $620 million for University of California projects; $620 million for California State University projects; and $920 million for community college projects.
Among the many projects that could be paid for by the bond measure:
- $6.7 million to make seven University of California, Davis, buildings earthquake safe.
- $18.5 million to replace old and decaying natural gas and electric lines at California State University, Monterey Bay.
- $17.4 million for construction of lecture space and labs at Sierra College in Rocklin.
- $7 million to remove lead and asbestos, update fire sprinklers and alarms, improve disabled access and make other repairs at Berkeley High School.
And the list goes on.
"The state thinks the shelf-life of a school is 40 years," Dahl said. His school was built in 1956, with additions added in the mid-1960s.
At Consumnes River College in south Sacramento, community college students are packed into crowded science labs, and teachers still have to turn students away because there isn't room, said Katherine McLain, dean of the college's science, math and engineering department.
The labs are build for 30 students or less, but "most teachers carry 35," McLain said. "We're pushing the limits of safety to do that."
Computers are stored with the cadavers because the outdated lab, built when the college was new in 1970, doesn't have the technology to support computer stations, she said.
If Proposition 55 is approved, the science building will get new lab space and new lecture halls, effectively doubling its space, she said.
There is no doubt that California needs new schools and has a long list of maintenance projects, but the state's building rules make school construction more costly than other building projects, said Mike Spence, president of the California Republican Assembly, a conservative organization that opposes Proposition 55.
School construction is regulated by the Field Act, which sets standards stricter than the rest of California's building codes. That unnecessarily drives up the price, Spence said.
"There needs to be reform in how we do school construction to make it more efficient, and this bond does none of that, so it wastes money," said Spence.
Spence said his group doesn't plan on raising money to campaign against it, but will rely on a grass roots effort, he said.
"If you look at who is supporting the campaign, it's all the people who will benefit by having the bonds passed, the financial companies, the contractors," Spence said. "It's only us little taxpayers who are against it."
Spence's group also objects to financing school construction with bonds because the interest payments nearly double the cost to taxpayers.
The Legislative Analyst estimates the measure would cost taxpayers about $24.7 billion over 30 years, including $12.4 billion in interest, or about $823 million annually. The bond and interest is repaid from the state's general fund.
A Field Poll from mid-January found that voters were nearly split on the school bonds, with 52 percent in favor of it. That poll found that 36 percent of voters would vote "no" and 12 percent were undecided. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $15 billion deficit bond measure wasn't polling as well, with 33 percent of likely voters approving of the bond.
The poll was taken before Schwarzenegger began to campaign around the state to support his bond measure.
Bond supporters said they'd rather not have to compete with Schwarzenegger's $15 billion deficit bond measure, but are confident that California voters will again support education.
The last statewide education bond - the $13 billion Proposition 47 - won with about 59 percent of the vote in a year that saw a "conservative electorate," said Bill Hauck, president of the California Business Roundtable, a supporter of Proposition 55.
If the education bond measure fails in March, it will reappear on the November ballot. That would give supporters another chance to persuade voters, but would delay construction and repairs.
Of the nearly 3,200 projects funded by Proposition 47, audits have found irregularities in two district's applications.
Fresno Unified School District could have to repay $34.7 million to the state because an audit found district officials falsely reported they had met all the criteria for bond funding on 21 projects, as required by law.
The state withheld $49.1 million from the Beaumont Unified School District in Riverside County last year after auditors found "material inaccuracies" in the district's construction fund applications. It will also have to resubmit valid project applications within three years or repay $5.8 million it has already received. The school board said the inaccuracies were caused by a misinterpretation of state regulations.
The State Allocation Board, which doles out the bond money, will take up Fresno's audit in March. The board could the district to repay the money and could prohibit the district from self-certifying construction project information for the next five years.
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On the Net:
Yes on 55 - Californians for Accountability and Better Schools: www.yeson55.com
California Taxpayer Protection Committee: www.protecttaxpayers.com
Major donors to the Yes on Proposition 55 campaign:
* California Teachers Association, the state's largest teachers union, $3.9 million* Californians for Higher Education, a coalition of community college, California State University and University of California foundations, $660,000
* Coalition for Adequate School Housing, a coalition of builders, architects and finance companies, $500,000
* National Education Association, labor union, $250,000
* Lawrence J. Stupski, retired president of Charles Schwab, $50,000
* Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix and president of the State Board of Education, $50,000
* California Building Industry Association, trade group, $25,000
* Fund for Better Schools, defunct Yes on Proposition 47 campaign, $10,000
* Wine Institute, trade group, $5,000
No reports filed by opponents of Proposition 55.
Source: California secretary of state.
They should vote NO.
No kidding. Campaign brochures will have a picture of some dump building with maybe a junk car next to it for effect. Why would you give more money to people who wasted it the first, second, etc....time? I got fed up and left.
I have heard it said that if someone go in and fire about every other person works in the school administration buildings that don't actually, there would be enough surplus money to actually fix things up.
Only if it passes.
Fat chance.
If Arnold chooses not to remember the spending audit he promised to have done during his campaign, this measure and a couple of others don't have a snowball's chance in hell...
Zero. Nada. Zilch.
The "for the chillun" BS is not going to work, ever again.
VOTE NO ON 55
And while you are at it:
Californians: Click on image for more info
Californians: Click on image for more info
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