Bond measures are an unreliable method of securing crucial funding for our public schools. Just look at the election results here in California, where 36 of 86 school bond measures are on track to fail this year. In previous years, most if not all school bond measures on the ballot have passed. The shaky economy is likely to blame for these school bond failures, where normal people are feeling the pain and are looking for places to save.
The thing is, we wouldn’t need so many school bond measures every year just to keep our school districts afloat if we reformed Proposition 13. Prop. 13 reform is an equitable way to restore more than $20B every year to our public schools and communities. It would close the corporate loophole that allows corporations to rob our communities of billions of dollars every year in property taxes, all without raising taxes for homeowners. It’s the perfect solution to California’s school funding problem, because Prop. 13 was part of the problem in the first place.
CalMatters/CatchLight Local
By Carolyn Jones | CalMatters | November 11th, 2026
