Lowering interest rates has created an unusual opportunity for schools in California: like many property owners, schools are refinancing their bond measure debt to pay for building improvements like science classroom upgrades and repairs to critical safety issues. However, many voters are angry because refinancing bond measures is a way to increases tax payer burden, often without voters knowing.
To get extra money to build new schools or to upgrade crumbling infrastructure, schools usually propose a bond during state elections. Bonds require 55% of voter approval in order to pass, but in these hard economic times, many voters are not willing to vote tax raises that would help schools. Some voters believe that, like the residents in their area, schools need to tighten their belts and put off improvements until the economy recovers. Unfortunately, some schools have needed repair for many years and in poorer districts repair has become a critical need. Financiers Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth of San Francisco proposed a creative legal solution: refinance bonds so schools can pay for needed improvements.
Though it increases the taxpayer burden to pay a larger debt than the original bond incurred, it doesn't require a vote and many voters were unaware of what schools were doing to come up with the extra cash. Voters can challenge the refinance but only have a 60 day window to do so. Now that more voters are aware of the practice, they have challenged it. Edmund Brown, the attorney general, agreed with voter sentiment and called the refinancing option unconstitutional because voter approval was not required and made it much harder for schools to refinance bond debt. Critics were happy with the ruling, but schools expressed disappointment:
I'm absolutely delighted," said San Mateo County Treasurer Lee Buffington. "It's one for the good guys.'
But many school district business officials were disappointed. The opinion means there's one less way for districts to raise funds for capital projects, said Rebecca Wright, assistant superintendent in the Alum Rock School District.
It is disturbing that some voters believe themselves the "good guys"; that they have vanquished some villain. There aren't really any good guys or bad guys in this struggle. On the one hand, bond refinancing is a sneaky way to get around the 55% rule and not informing voters of the plan is dishonest at best. I can understand why voters feel betrayed: community members in poorer districts feared tax increases even in the boom years, as property costs increased and families had to work three or four jobs to make ends meet. On the other hand, Sacramento has cut California schools to the bone, and many poorer schools run the risk of losing federal assistance as well.
A booming student population paired with limited growth in the number of permanent facilities has caused schools to turn to cheaper portable classrooms that are meant as a stop-gap measure until schools can build more permanent structures. They are built to last only a few years at best. However, portables have become the permanent solution. Some of these portables have been in continuous use for 10 years or more, and they're starting to fall apart!
Science education is an area where many schools across the nation are falling behind, yet most schools only have one science lab for the entire school. The level of instruction, along with the building it is taught in, are suffering from this financial crisis. Other science teachers are required to teach with very limited resources and classrooms inadequate to the task. My own science classroom didn't even have a sink; I used a large detergent bucket to dispose of non-toxic chemicals and a clothing storage bin to hold water when needed. Funding for the year for my class was $600 dollars: any experimental supplies had to be purchased by me.
I worked in California schools for 4 years, and I can testify that some schools were health hazards to students and teachers both. Faulty electronics caused a fire in one San Jose school, and a leaky roof caused black mold growth in a portable classroom at the same school. Portables have a number of health hazards, including:
the potential for mold contamination, inadequate ventilation, poor temperature control, elevated levels of volatile chemicals, and excessive use of some pesticides.
Mold infestations caused by poor ventilation and leaky roofs can irritate asthma, increase respiratory illnesses, and can even cause permanent lung damage. Black mold is particularly dangerous and can cause serious respiratory distress. Exposed metal can cause cuts, rusty playground equipment coupled with this problem can cause tenanus. Contaminated water can cause other health issues, depending on what is contaminating it. Repairs for these and other safety issues are schools' absolute top priority, and schools will, and must, pay for these repairs before anything else even if other building repairs must suffer.
It is vital that schools have enough funding to not only repair critical safety issues, but also to maintain all their buildings to prevent other safety issues from occuring. School districts depend on bonds for everything from maintenance of existing schools to building new schools to keep up with population growth. However, as the economy makes already-poor families poorer, it becomes less and less likely that new bonds will be passed, leaving schools few options other than to refinance their existing bonds in defiance of the will of the voters.