November 5, 2024—CalMatters K-12 Education reporter speaks to Managing Attorney John Affeldt regarding the passage of California Proposition 2, a $10 billion bond that will fund community college projects and TK-12 modernization and new construction. The San Francisco-based, nonprofit public interest law firm Public Advocates agrees with the need for school facilities funding, but has opposed the way California would distribute the money. The state would give out most of the money based on matching grants, which means that school districts that can raise more money through local bonds — typically, larger and wealthier districts — can collect more Prop 2 funds.
Prop. 2 sets aside $1 billion for smaller and lower-income districts and includes a sliding scale that would give more money to smaller districts, but the scale is not nearly wide enough, Public Advocates argued.
Public Advocates had threatened to sue if the measure passes, but on Tuesday night the firm’s managing attorney John Affeldt said no decision had been made yet.
“Voters appear to be correctly recognizing the desperate need for capital financing for our public schools, but I don’t think this is an endorsement of the Legislature’s plan to distribute the funds,” Affeldt said Tuesday night.
