Without bond money, will schools be in a bind?

Marisa O’Neil

With millions dollars for improvements at stake, local schools will

be paying close attention to Proposition 55 voting returns in the

March election.

State public schools, community colleges and universities stand to

get $12.3 billion to build and upgrade schools from the proposed bond

sale -- $175 million of that to local schools and universities. With

the multi-school Measure A construction project, the Newport-Mesa

Unified School District has a lot to lose if voters get overwhelmed

by the numerous measures on the ballot and don’t pass the

proposition.

“Proposition 55 means $50 million for Newport-Mesa, as originally

anticipated in Measure A,” said Paul Reed, assistant superintendent

of business services for the district. “Historically, people

understand the need to modernize and build new facilities, but this

ballot is very complicated and has many other bond measures.”

The giant Measure A construction project encompasses nearly every

district school and covers a variety of improvements at each site.

The money is paying for seismic upgrades, asbestos removal, repairing

termite damage and some cosmetic repairs among other work.

Voters passed the measure in 2000, authorizing the district to

sell $110 million in general obligation bonds to fund the project. To

that, the state agreed to match $63 million for improvements, Reed

said.

WORK WON’T STOP

In 2002, Newport-Mesa got $13 million from another state bond

sale, Proposition 47 -- money which is being used for Measure A. To

pay Newport-Mesa the other $50 million and to give other districts

money that has been promised, the state will have to sell its own

general obligation bonds.

Even if Proposition 55 does not pass, Reed said, Measure A work

will continue. The district will just have to get its money

elsewhere.

“We’re not counting on Proposition 55 to go forward,” he said.

“Regardless, all of Measure A will go forward, but the district will

have to borrow money. It’s not cost-effective or prudent to halt

Measure A midstream to wait for the state to catch up. But if we

borrow money, we’ll spend in interest what we could use to renovate

schools.”

Because California schools receive funds from the state, local

districts must pass bonds to raise money for some projects. To get

the state funds, they must come up with half of the money and then

apply for matching funds -- sometimes leading to so-called

“Mello-Roos” property taxes for new building projects.

In some states, Reed said, school districts can dictate tax rates

and dictate where that money goes, giving them more control over

facility improvement. With almost all money coming from Sacramento,

California schools sometimes suffer at the local level.

“Teachers put up with a lot in their working environment for

years,” said Jim Rogers, president of Newport-Mesa Federation of

Teachers, which supports the proposition. “Finally, something is

being done to correct that. A lot of folks will allow children to

walk into dilapidated classrooms even though they wouldn’t work under

the same conditions themselves. Our No. 1 priority needs to be the

kids.”

PROPER SPENDING PRIORITIES?

State universities also stand to gain from its passage and don’t

need to raise matching funds. UC Irvine would get $100 million for

capital projects from Proposition 55. That would go to construct new

buildings for the biological sciences, engineering and the social

sciences.

Investing in high-technology education will help create and keep

jobs in California, said Nicolaos Alexopoulos, dean for UCI’s school

of engineering.

“We would gain [from Proposition 55], but the sate of California

and the nation would gain much more,” he said. “High-tech is the most

important export in the state of California.”

Coast Community College District would get about $25 million from

Proposition 55, district spokeswoman Erin Cohn said.

“Most of that -- about $23 million -- would go toward building

Orange Coast College’s new library,” she said. “The old one was

deemed seismically unsafe and is now vacant. Students have to access

library materials from a couple of portable buildings in the parking

lot. The other $3 million would be used to make safety-necessary

repairs at Golden West College [in Huntington Beach].”

Few groups have come out against Proposition 55, but in the Voter

Information Guide’s argument against it, Sen. Rico Oller said that

taking on more debt will force the state to raise taxes. It may also,

he said, make it more difficult for the government to respond in a

disaster.

According to state estimates, it will spend about $24.7 billion to

pay back the bonds -- about $823 million a year

Though California voters have historically passed similar bond

measures, Reed said, this year, people may get overwhelmed by so many

others on the ballot. Propositions 57 and 58 will also affect

education, and without them, the state may have to make deeper cuts

than those proposed in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget.

“I’m afraid people won’t understand the difference between the

propositions themselves,” Reed said. “Those all have implications for

schools, and 57 and 58 have a huge implication. If the state is

broke, schools are going to suffer in ways yet to be determined.”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.