What is Proposal 2? California’s measure aims to borrow money to repair schools and colleges

FRESNO, Calif. – As voters cast their ballots, they will decide whether the state should borrow $10 billion to build and repair public schools and community colleges.

“Every student in the state deserves to be in a classroom worth being taught in,” Yuri Calderon said. He is executive director of the Small School Districts Association.

Proposition 2 would have a direct impact on the campuses Calderon represents – those with fewer than 2,500 students.

“That’s the vast majority of school districts in the state of California,” Calderon said. “That’s what they are – over 65% are small.”

Calderon says these schools are often overlooked and underrepresented in state funding and grants because urban schools are better equipped to apply for the money.

“That’s why these provisions are included in this bond measure to ensure that at least some of these funds end up in our rural and small communities,” Calderon said.

The state would distribute Proposition 2 funds through matching grants and require counties to contribute from local funds.

The support wouldn’t automatically raise taxes, but the state would have to raise about $500 million a year to pay back the loan.

“It’s just that these school boards are not living within their means,” said Francisco Alanis of the Libertarian Party.

He points out that the bond measure will cost taxpayers much more than the proposed $10 billion. The interest will cost $8 billion over 35 years.

“To pay off this bond, property taxes will be increased, and I’m not just talking about homeowners,” Alanis said. Tenants too.”

Proposition 2 comes before voters because Calderon says some school facilities are in poor condition.

“When you see places that don’t have clean drinking water, that don’t have a fully functioning sewage system, that have toilets that look worse than a bus stop toilet… Those are schools here in California,” Calderon said.

According to Alanis, Proposition 2 is an expensive request that is unnecessary in the first place.

“School districts have an annual budget. “So if these repairs were truly necessary, they should be included in their annual budget,” Alanis said.

Proposition 2 comes four years after voters rejected a $15 billion school bond proposal in 2020. The last time voters approved borrowing money for schools was in 2016.

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