Preliminary results for the November 3, 2015 elections held in some California counties indicate that voters approved eight of the nine bond measures proposed by a total of eight California school districts. Voter approval means that the districts are now authorized to borrow a specific maximum amount of money for facilities construction by selling bonds to investors. The districts will pay back the investors over time, with interest, by collecting property taxes designated to paying off the bonds.

At this link is a chart (depicted to the right in miniature) that provides the latest preliminary data about the nine bond measures, the election results, and the… Read More

In July 2015 the California Policy Center publishedFor the Kids:California Voters Must Become Wary of Borrowing Billions More from Wealthy Investors for Educational Construction. This report exhaustively details howCalifornia voters from 2001 through 2014 authorized the State of California and 642 local educational districts to borrow a total of $146 billion for facility construction, resulting in an astonishing $200 billion in debt now owed to bond investors. It also reveals the many obscure bond finance and expenditure schemes adopted by school and college districts over the past 15 years to circumvent taxpayer protections and voter intentions.

Obviously the study has been criticized by politicians and the many interests that make money from bond measures. But data-based assessment of bond measures has also been criticized by advocates for fiscal responsibility. On August 16, I received an… Read More