This community opinion was contributed by resident John Chadwell. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent BenitoLink or other affiliated contributors. Lea este artículo en español aquí.
According to the San Benito County Clerk-Recorder’s office, as of Nov. 17, residents voted to pass Proposition 2, the state’s move to raise $10 billion in general obligation funds for schools K through community college for repairs, upgrades, and construction of new facilities. On the home front, Measures L and M, each for $70 million to fund a new high school, were failing because they had not, as yet, reached the required 55% of votes to pass.
From 1993 to 2024 Californians voted to pass 36 education-specific bonds totaling $163.054 billion. If Measures L&M had passed the annual impact on county homeowners would have been around $190 for a home valued at $500,000, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but this would be in addition to the approximately $4,150 they are already paying.
Bonds are bad math when it comes to funding schools. They incur additional long-term (20-30 years) taxes that are especially onerous for people on fixed incomes; there is insufficient oversight in how the money is spent; once issued there is little flexibility how the money can be spent; and the spending often overshadowed education, i.e. a high school campus that rivals many community colleges.
If not bonds, then how can new schools be funded?
An innovative approach might be reworking the California Lottery to directly fund schools. The California Lottery was established in 1984, promising to support public eduction. At least 34% of lottery revenues were to go to education, and the rest would be allocated to prizes and administrative costs. Then in 2010 this changed to maximize revenue in order to have larger jackpots with less going to schools.
According to the lottery’s annual financial report, since its inception the lottery has paid out $79 billion in prizes and contributed $41.5 billion to education.
The report stated that there was $8.8 billion in revenues in 2023. The lottery paid out $5.5 billion to winners, with the top prize of $83 million going to a single person; $2.1 billion, went to education; $528 million paid to retailers who sold the tickets; and $880 million went to administrators.
Perhaps the lottery should be reorganized to have more payouts, say a few hundred $1-million winners instead of the average jackpot for one person raking in $23 million.
Perhaps it’s time to rework how lottery money is allocated. If the percentage going to education were increased to 50% that would have been $4.4 billion to schools in 2023. Taking Hollister’s projected $140 million price tag for a new high school, that might mean 31 new schools could be built in the state.
To accomplish this there would need to be a dedicated school infrastructure fund to ensure the money was spent only on school construction and repairs and it could not be diverted to other expenses. Also, it would be important to install a tiered funding system that would prioritize funding based on urgency: schools with the most critical repairs or underserved communities, such as Hollister, would receive money first. While some consider the lottery an unreliable source of funding schools because it fluctuates month to month, the state could establish a reserve fund to ensure a constant source of income.
Of course, the legislature would have to approve any changes to the lottery, which would require the buy-in of educators, parents, and community leaders, with the assurance that the money would, in particular, address underserved areas.
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