Statewide school facilities bond desperately needed

Resources

Vote yes on Prop 2 to start chipping at the state’s dire facilities needs for schools

California’s public schools are in desperate need of facilities upgrades. Thousands of California school buildings are in poor shape, with leaky roofs, broken air conditioning, peeling paint and other health and safety hazards. According to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), 38 percent of students attend schools that don’t meet the state’s minimum safety standards. Research has shown that students who attend school in sub-standard facilities tend to have lower attendance rates, lower morale and lower achievement.

Without a state school facilities bond, local educational agencies are left with little choice but to generate local funds to pay for facilities upgrades though local property taxes and local bonds; there is no permanent funding stream. A statewide school bond allows districts to double their local school facility dollars and efforts. Districts that pass a local school bond can apply to the state School Facility Program and receive a matching grant that doubles their money. Many small, lower-wealth school districts will benefit as well with funds set aside for these districts because they may be limited in their ability to pass a local bond. In 2020, a $15 billion state schools facilities bond failed to pass with voters, leaving the state’s contribution to facilities nearly depleted. The failure of Proposition 13 in 2020 means that it has been more than eight years since voters adopted the last state school bond in 2016.

38 percent of students attend schools that don’t meet the state’s minimum safety standards.

That is why it is of utmost importance that voters pass Proposition 2, the Kindergarten through Grade 12 Schools and Local Community College Public Education Facilities Modernization, Repair, and Safety Bond Act of 2024 — which will appear on the November 2024 general election ballot. Prop 2 will need to be approved by the majority of voters to become law.

This long overdue and much-needed statewide school bond initiative would provide $10 billion in funding for facility needs — $8.5 billion for TK-12 public schools and $1.5 billion for community colleges. Studies have shown that safe, healthy and robust learning environments contribute to increased academic outcomes for students, leading to higher graduation rates and a well-educated and skilled workforce that is able and ready to contribute to California’s economy.

A 2018 study from Policy Analysis for California estimates that California needs to “spend between $3.1 to $4.1 billion annually just to maintain their existing facilities. Further, the total amount of facility funding needed for California schools during the next decade for modernization and new construction is expected to be about $117 billion.”

Specifics

The main elements of the TK-12 public school portion of the bond would be split into the following programs and amounts:

New construction: $3.3 billion — this will help LEAs build new schools and expand existing school sites to meet the educational needs of their students. Facilities will be built to current standards, helping to provide students with 21st-century learning environments.
Modernization: $4 billion — this will help renovate and improve existing school sites to help address existing or anticipated school facility needs, including HVAC upgrades, sustainability improvements, technology upgrades and other important improvements.
Career technical education: $600 million — this funding will continue to help prepare students to enter the workforce through supporting the construction and enhancement of school classrooms to meet the needs of the state’s economy, from Silicon Valley technology to the robust agribusiness needs of California’s Central Valley, from the burgeoning life sciences industry in San Diego to the industrial and conveyance industry needs of the Inland Empire counties of Riverside and San Bernardino.
Charter schools: $600 million — this funding will help existing charter schools build needed learning environments for their students.

Studies have shown that safe, healthy and robust learning environments contribute to increased academic outcomes for students, leading to higher graduation rates and a well-educated and skilled workforce.

How funding would work

The School Facility Program — where the money goes if Prop 2 is approved — provides matching grants for school districts to acquire school sites, construct new facilities and modernize existing facilities. New construction grants provide funding on a 50/50 state and local match basis and modernization grants provide funding on a 60/40 basis. Districts fund their shares primarily through local general obligation bonds and developer fees (levied by school districts on most forms of new development).

Because the program has historically been run on a first-come, first-served basis, studies have found that both modernization and new construction funding needs are greater in LEAs serving some the state’s highest-needs students. According to a 2022 PPIC report, low-income, English learner (EL) and Latino students have received less funding than higher-income, non-EL and white students since 1998.

To help address these inequities, CSBA advocated for several changes in the way Prop 2 would be distributed. It includes changes to provide additional resources for lower wealth and small school districts. In response to calls for greater funding for LEAs with little-to-no bonding capacity — such as lower-income LEAs and LEAs serving high-needs students — the bond includes a number of changes that will increase funding opportunities for these LEAs. This includes a sliding scale for how school districts with lower property values can receive increased funding for new construction and modernization projects. It also increases the cap on bonding capacity for districts qualifying for financial hardship grants from $5 million to $15 million and adds an annual inflation adjuster that increases the cap over time. This will increase the number of school districts that can qualify for financial hardship funding over time, helping to expand access to school districts with little to no bonding capacity.

Prop 2 also includes prioritization for small school districts including establishing a process to provide small school districts with technical assistance; providing a prioritization for small school districts that have a low bonding capacity and high percentages of youth in foster care, youth experiencing homelessness and English learners; and setting aside 10 percent of the new construction ($330 million) and modernization ($400 million) grant funding for small school districts.

Back to Newsletter