Should Majority Rule?

Prop. 39 Would Change the Way School Bonds Are Passed

BY ANNE QUINN

Nine school bond measures were proposed in SLO County in the last decade. All of them received a majority vote. But only two of them passed.

Proponents of Proposition 39 want to fix that.

If Prop. 39 passes, only a 55 percent majority vote will needed to pass a school bond instead of the two-thirds majority needed now.

Proponents of the measure ask why it is that we can elect presidents by a majority vote, when a greater majority vote is needed to sell bonds to finance new school construction or improve facilities.

But opponents point to the two-thirds majority vote as a vital protection that must stay in place to keep school costs from getting out of hand. From their perspective, changing the voter-approval formula is just the newest government shakedown for more property tax dollars.

Tax reforms and school bond issues have gone hand in hand since Prop. 13 passed in 1979. Prop. 13 all but froze the assessed valuations used to compute property taxes, allowing only small increases for inflation. This freeze is credited with enabling many elderly and low-income families to keep their homes.

It is also blamed for the crumbling infrastructure in already overcrowded, inadequate schools. Prop. 13 went into effect during the last two decades, just as school enrollment in California swelled to record numbers.

In 1998, in an effort to transform the way school districts were funded., the voters passed Prop. 98. Instead of waiting on a long list to receive 100 percent state funding, schools could float bond measures. If a measures passed, the district immediately received state matching funds of up to 50 percent. Passing bonds became critically important, but no easier to do.

If the school voucher initiative passes, Prop. 98 will be reversed. Æ

Anne Quinn was hired as a reporter at New Times with a two-thirds majority vote.