Public school construction bond elections here in San Mateo County have become as routine as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.
Provided these packages are presented to the voters at a general election, their success rate has been more than 90% over the last quarter-century. It’s a surprise when one of them fails.
At a general election, only a 55% yes vote is needed for approval of a public school bond effort in California. That change in the rule was made several decades ago. Prior to that, the general election threshold for passage was significantly higher, two-thirds.
As a result, billions of dollars (including interest, fees and related borrowing costs) have been given the OK by the county’s generous citizenry.
So it’s no wonder that local districts happily climb on board the bond election train with enthusiasm and regularity. It’s almost a sure thing. Several districts have had multiple successful bond elections during the last several decades.
Which brings up a point rarely noted by supporters of these measures — and for good reason. Every time cash is approved for new construction, it frees up a district’s annual maintenance/repair budget for other important items, like personnel compensation.
Think about it. Why spend general fund money on replacing old roofs, decaying playing fields, failing heating/air conditioning systems, water/sewer lines, etc. when another bond package is on the horizon to address those needs anyway?
Once the bond dough is given the OK, lo and behold, the extra dollars are suddenly and fortuitously available in a roundabout way for teachers, administrators, office staff and others on the payroll.
Savvy education officials try not to lock in yearly raises onto their salary schedules with the available dollars because of the long-term budgetary impact. So one-time bonus payouts or other perks can be employed instead.
The new money, if trustees agree, can be pumped into fringe benefit categories like pensions, expense allowances and health insurance plans. All of this is perfectly legit.
But talking about it before or after an election is generally considered a definite no-no. In fact, pre-election language touting these bond measures typically specifies clearly that no money (directly) generated by them can be used to bolster employee pay packages.
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Still, that unspoken (and quite legal) backdoor does, in fact, exist. And it is utilized with some quiet frequency.
CHESTERTON ACADEMY ENDING YEAR: A new, coed Catholic high school in Menlo Park is completing its first academic year. The Chesterton Academy of St. James is located on the St. Patrick’s Seminary and University campus off Middlefield Road.
The school is part of a national network of Chesterton schools. The organization is named for prominent author and Catholic convert G.K. Chesterton.
The stated aim of the Chesterton academic system is to immerse students in a classical education which emphasizes some of the great thinkers of Western Civilization (Socrates, Dante and St. Thomas Aquinas are included, for example) and nourishes pupils in a historical Catholic tradition.
Tuition at the school is $18,200 in 2022-23.
FISCAL SHOCK, AWE ON HORIZON?: This is an update on a previously mentioned financial matter that bears on all of us. The most recent official estimate of our national debt is predicted to hit a shocking $50 trillion within a decade if nothing is done to slow down rampant federal spending.
If the new projection pans out, we can be assured that higher taxes are coming. It would be inevitable. The debt would be crushing and unsustainable. Interest payments would cripple the U.S. economy.
At an interest rate of just 3%, servicing that monumental stack of federal IOU’s would cost a stunning $1.5 trillion per year, crowding out cash for other services and programs, including, perhaps, military expenditures.
JEAN RICHANBACH ATKINSON PASSES: Sorry to note the passing of Jean Richanbach Atkinson, a former member of the Burlingame Elementary School District Board of Trustees. Her reasonable and polite presence helped to ease the district through a chaotic period of campus closures when district pupil numbers collapsed by 47% from 1970 to 1985.
Email: johnhorganmedia@gmail.com.
(5) comments
Thanks for today’s informative column, Mr. Horgan. By now, most everyone knows that anything being pushed “for the kids” is actually “for the pensions and benefits” of educators. Kids, as can be seen from decreased achievement scores, are likely the last to benefit from any of bonds, or tax measures, being pushed. And let’s not forget bonds and tax measures for roads and highways are also mainly for pensions and benefits. A quick drive on our roads and highways will illustrate… BTW, did you hear about the “Terminator” filling up a pothole in his neighborhood? Ah-nold may have done a better job filling the pothole than being a Governor (debatable?). Of course, this pothole filling is definitely more of an accomplishment than Newsom (not as debatable).
Horgan writes as if budget choices are conspiratorially made in conjunction with dark labor forces rather than being a necessity of market forces. Simply saying that paying employees sometimes takes priority over deferred maintenance is not only telling half the story, but is literally a talking point from a Howard Jarvis Taxpayers’ Association form letter that is sent out opposing every school bond, with only the names being changed.
I won’t get into a spiel about 1978’s Prop. 13 because no one’s mind will be changed on either side, but even its advocates acknowledge it was meant to cut government spending. In inflation-adjusted dollars, California has less to spend per student now than it did 45 years ago. School district revenues don’t keep up with inflation, especially in San Mateo County, where there is little real estate turnover to reset a property’s tax assessment to modern levels. Choices have to be made — and human capital wears down faster than buildings.
(While it shouldn’t need to be said that no district will choose to forgo immediate life and safety repairs in favor of other expenses, this is 2023. They won’t, and even if a Board with bad actors started to ignore its responsibilities, the state and community wouldn’t allow it.)
I know from reading John’s columns for the last 25 years that he believes in the free market, so he also knows that staff members will move on to higher-paying positions elsewhere if a school district can’t meet their needs. The days, this probably means a job outside education as much as it means a job in another school district. In San Mateo County, the highest-paid public school teachers make just less than the county’s median income. And those are the teachers who’ve been there for more than a decade -- good luck to new teachers trying to live here while making half what later-career educators do! I, for one, know that keeping experienced teachers and staff members is important for our kids’ education and a prudent use of limited resources.
Finally, contrary to this column, no one is hiding that having a second source (such as bonds) to fund building upgrades might help allow school budget makers give a little more to staff. Heck, it was one of my key talking points when I was campaigning for South San Francisco Unified School District’s 2022 bond measure.
(Disclaimer: I stepped down from a San Mateo County school district’s board in 2022 after working on multiple school district budgets. I am also a current public school parent.)
John - I also worked in a system wherein fancy accounting was the norm. Bond money for explicit campus capital improvements at times seemed to end up in different areas and not necessarily in the intended place. And don't tell me that many teachers are underpaid. Many are well paid, and don't forget they work only 9 months out of the year with fringe benefits that can the rest of us only dream of. All salary information is now public and may be a surprise to many.
Thanks for bringing up school bonds. They have found a deceptive model that works 90% of the time. We the people deserve fair and accurate disclosures.
Thanks Tom, Dick and Terrence! These school bonds are a creative way to circumvent Proposition 13 and put a huge unfair, unnecessary burden on taxpayers.
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