What Is Proposition 13, California's $15 Billion Schools Bond?

LOS ANGELES, CA — As millions of Golden State residents cast their ballots in the presidential primary, they'll also be asked to approve the state's largest school bond ever.

Proposition 13 is the only statewide measure on the ballot. Dubbed the School and College Facilities Bond, Proposition 13 asks voters to authorize the sale of $15 billion in bonds to fund facility improvements at schools from pre-K all the way to public universities. The bond divides up the funding with most of the money going to elementary and high schools across the state followed by universities, and then community colleges. In addition to the schools spending jolt, it would also change the way funds are allocated by setting aside funding for low income schools and raising the borrowing limit on school districts through local voter-approved measures.

Those changes have garnered opposition from anti-tax groups such as the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. Their concern is that it would open the floodgates for future tax increases at the local level.

However, Prop. 13 enjoys the support of teachers' unions and numerous school districts with the notable exception of the state's largest school district: Los Angeles Unified. It also holds a slim margin of support from most voters polled by the Public Policy Institute of California. Roughly 51 percent of likely voters say they will approve it, 42 percent oppose it, and 8 percent are undecided.

According to the Institute, 69 percent of Democratic voters approve the measure while only 24 percent of Republican voters do.

“The Proposition 13 state school bond has a slim majority going into the March primary vote and gets a big boost from its strong support among Democratic-likely voters,” said Mark Baldassare, PPIC president and CEO. “Fewer than half who would vote yes or no on Proposition 13 say the outcome of the vote on the state school bond is very important to them.

A 'yes' vote authorizes the state to sell $15 billion in general obligation bonds for schools and colleges. According to the state's Legislative Analyst's Office, school districts and community college districts would also be authorized to issue more local bonds, and school districts would have new limits on their ability to levy developer fees.

As Ballotpedia notes, the money would be divided up as follows:

$9 billion for preschool and K-12 schools,

$4 billion for universities,

$2 billion for community colleges.

A 'no' vote would mean the state can't sell the bonds to fund the improvements. A 'no' vote would also not impact school districts’ and community college districts’ existing borrowing limits or the rules for school districts to levy developer fees.