By Mike Myslinski
Carol Reichert is one of many teachers across the state who — backed by a new radio and television ad campaign for Proposition 1D — are working to remind voters why California public schools, colleges and universities are in dire need of the $10.4 billion statewide school bond.
With Election Day looming, Reichert knows the vote on the bond could be close. Its passage would help fund the local $100 million school bond on the same November ballot being sought by the 27,000-student Bakersfield City School District.
“In Bakersfield, we really need Prop. 1D to pass to provide matching funds for projects targeted by our local bond,” says Reichert, president of the Bakersfield Elementary Teachers Association. “We need to build three new elementary schools, and we have many school buildings with 75-year-old plumbing.”
Her district is one of 55 school and college districts that have local bonds on the Nov. 7 ballot, and Prop. 1D would provide vital help in financing those bonds seeking to fix leaky roofs, modernize campuses and make other long awaited improvements.
The Rio Linda Union School District in Sacramento County has a $38 million local bond on the ballot to build two new schools, repair bathrooms and fix old pipes, says Jim Crum, president of the Rio Linda Education Association.
“Prop. 1D is extremely important to us for what we need to do in our district.”
The state bond needs a simple majority vote to pass. At press time in early October, the Field Poll showed it was holding a narrow lead, with 52 percent of likely voters in favor and 33 percent opposed.
The poll was taken before the media ad campaign was launched. At press time, the Yes on Prop. 1D coalition radio ad was just beginning to air on 60 stations in all media markets. A television spot was also in the works.
“The race for good-paying jobs is getting tougher,” the announcer says in the radio ad, as school graduates get set at a starting line to compete in a race. “Will California students have the skills to compete?”
After a starting gun sounds, the announcer answers the question: “They will with Proposition 1D. Prop. 1D relieves classroom overcrowding to improve learning and prepares our kids for the future with new science labs and computers, vocational education, and technical training, so our kids are prepared for good-paying jobs that keep California’s economy strong.
“Prop. 1D also provides funding to make school buildings earthquake safe, remove cancer causing asbestos from classrooms, and increase campus and playground safety.”
California’s future cannot wait, says CTA President Barbara E. Kerr. “Our schools, community colleges and universities must have the facilities they need to train our kids so they can compete for the top-paying jobs that really do help grow our economy.”
Kerr joined State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and other school and university officials at the kickoff of the Yes on Prop. 1D campaign. Held Oct. 2 at a San Francisco high school built in 1936 and needing renovation, the news conference was part of an effort by the coalition of teachers, administrators, parents, taxpayers, labor and business to reach out to communities.
The news conference messages were about Prop. 1D helping to relieve overcrowding, modernizing low-tech classrooms, and making schools safer with earthquake retrofitting.
According to the state architect, more than 7,000 K-12 school buildings and many more on college campuses need structural upgrades to keep students safe in the event of earthquakes.
On the overcrowding issue, the bond can help schools across the state, but it targets 1,800 schools designated as “severely overcrowded.” It provides $1 billion for campus expansion and renovation impacting more than 1 million students trying to learn in schools with at least 75 percent more students than they were designed to hold.
Overall, Prop. 1D provides $7.3 billion for K-12 school improvements and more than $3 billion for community colleges and universities.
While passing Prop. 1D is a top priority for CTA, the proposition is just one part of a $37 billion infrastructure building package placed on the crowded November ballot by the state Legislature. With so much information to digest, educating voters is vitally important in securing the passage of Prop. 1D. For more information on volunteering, visit the campaign website [www.yeson1D.com].
More and more newspapers are backing the measure as a sound investment in the future of the state. Among them are the Sacramento Bee, the San Jose Merury News, the Contra Costa Times, the Fresno Bee, the Riverside Press-Enterprise and La Opinión.
“Voters have been wise to pass other state and local bond measures to build and repair schools,” reads an Oct. 1 editorial in the Mercury News. “But more money is needed. The size of this bond — $10.4 billion — would jumpstart projects throughout the state.”
