The California Strategic Growth Plan
K-12 Education

K-12 schools will experience net increases in student enrollment of approximately 158,000 students by 2015-16. While some schools are experiencing declining enrollments, many other high-growth areas lack the schools necessary to accommodate increased enrollment. Some large declining enrollment districts have very overcrowded sites requiring new construction to adequately house students. Most notably, in order to meet the requirements of the recent settlement in the Williams lawsuit, the Los Angeles Unified School District along with three other school districts must relieve the most critically overcrowded schools (also know as "Concept 6" schools) by 2012. Thus, the need for new schools will continue to exceed net student growth projected during this period. As our system of over 8,000 school sites continues to age, the need for modernization assistance to keep classrooms current continues to increase during this period. Finally, because our primary and secondary school system helps develop tomorrow's workforce, it is important to both ensure facilities for Charter Schools to stimulate innovation and for Career Technical Education to ensure all students have the opportunity to participate in the high skill technical jobs that will fuel the economy of the future. Because Career Technical Education (CTE) has languished in the public school system for many years and the demand for Charter Schools is growing, the SGP continues the emphasis on assisting schools in meeting these special facility needs.


TOTAL K-12 PROGRAM PROPOSES $11.6 BILLION
 The SGP proposes $11.6 billion of additional general obligation bonds to provide state bond funding for schools into 2012-13. The $11.6 billion is proposed to be split between the 2008 and 2010 elections. This total amount of funding, when combined with the $7.3 billion contained in Proposition 1D on last November's ballot is estimated to provide for approximately 32,000 new classrooms to house approximately 826,000 students and almost 79,000 renovated classrooms providing state-of-the-art facilities for over 2 million students.


2006 BOND PROVIDED $7.3 BILLION
 Proposition 1D, designed to meet needs through 2008-09, will provide approximately 9,800 new classrooms housing almost 255,000 students and approximately 38,400 renovated classrooms to serve 989,000 students through the following components:

  • New Construction-$1.9 billion
  • Modernization-$3.3 billion
  • Charter schools-$500 million
  • Career Technical Education-$500 million
  • Overcrowding relief in certain districts-$1 billion
  • Incentives to meet high performance school design standards-$100 million
  • Joint use facilities-$29 million
Of the amounts for new construction and modernization above, up to $200 million is available for small high schools and up to $200 million is available for seismic safety projects.


2008 EDUCATION BOND MEASURE PROPOSES $6.47 BILLION FOR K-12
 The next bond measure, proposed for the 2008 election cycle, is estimated to fund construction through 2010-11 and provide approximately 12,800 new classrooms housing approximately 330,000 students and over 25,300 renovated classrooms providing state-of-the-art capacity for approximately 653,000 students. The bonds are proposed to be allocated as follows:

  • New Construction-$2.931 billion to assist high-growth school districts that are projected to have increases in enrollment through 2010-11. This amount is predicated on grant reductions calculated to revise the traditional 50-percent state / 50-percent local cost-sharing ratio to 40-percent state / 60-percent local. This assumes the state's assistance for acquisition of sites will be restricted to a participation level assuming 150 percent of current site density planning standards.
  • Modernization-$1.539 billion to addresses rehabilitation needs for buildings that are over 20 to 25 years old recognizing that teaching techniques, building codes, and technology change over time. This component assists schools with major building system replacements that cannot be funded completely through normal deferred maintenance and operating funds, and is predicated on grant reductions calculated to revise the cost sharing ratio to 40-percent state / 60-percent local funding, similar to new construction.
  • Charter School-$1.0 billion to provide dedicated funding for Charter Schools as a part of addressing the educational needs of K-12 students and housing enrollment growth. Charter Schools provide an added dimension to parental choices in ensuring an appropriate environment for their child's education. These funds are predicated on a 50-percent state / 50-percent local sharing ratio because Charters do not have the ability to levy local bonds. Instead, state bond funds are used to advance the local share and are paid back with operating or other revenue over time.
  • Career Technical Education Facilities-$1.0 billion to provide a dedicated fund source for matching grants to provide state of the art technical education facilities to ensure our comprehensive high schools can provide the cutting edge skills essential to the high wage technical sectors of our state economy. These funds are predicated on a 50-percent state / 50-percent local sharing ratio to provide added incentive to build these high cost classrooms.

2010 BOND MEASURE PROPOSES $5.13 BILLION FOR K-12
 The revised plan proposes a subsequent bond measure for K-12 schools in 2010 to address needs extending into 2012-13. This increment will provide for the same purposes as the 2008 bond and is predicated on continuation of the cost containment measures described previously. This level of funding is estimated to provide over 9,300 new classrooms serving 241,000 students and almost 15,000 renovated classrooms serving about 387,000 students.

  • New Construction-$2.13 billion
  • Modernization-$1 billion
  • Charter Schools-$1 billion
  • Career Technical Education Facilities-$1 billion

NEEDS BEYOND 2012-13
 Competing statewide infrastructure needs make current funding policies for K-12 school construction unsustainable within a prudent debt service ratio. While the proposed SGP provides state general obligation bond assistance for funding the needs into 2012-13, assuming specified state cost containment measures, it will be necessary for schools to plan for additional bond measures and alternative financing strategies for financially troubled districts to ensure every student is housed in an appropriate classroom. Finally, the Administration proposes to review the overall financing structure for schools, including consideration of public-private partnerships, to ensure sustainable funding of school facilities in the long run.
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CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS for The California Strategic Growth Plan Back to Top

 Public Safety
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 Higher Education
 Flood Control and Water Supply
 Transportation
 Judicial
 Other Natural Resources
 Housing
 Other Public Service
 Accountability
 Affordability
PRINTABLE BUDGET DOCUMENTS Back to Top
Budget Summary - The California Strategic Growth Plan (pdf * - 91K) -
Provides this entire The California Strategic Growth Plan Chapter in pdf format.