Dear Fellow San Diegans,
We ask you to Vote NO on Measure YY. This is a Bad Deal for San Diego.
The November Bond Issue YY would authorize San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) to issue an additional $3.5 billion in bonds all at the expense of residents, business owners, renters and retirees of San Diego. Here are 7 facts the District and writers of YY will not tell you.
#1: In the last 20 years (and as recently as 2012) the SDUSD has received 3 voter approvals to issue $6.4 billion in bonds. In the districts own words this will total approximately $12 billion with the YY proposal for an additional $3.5 billion costing $7.5 billion for a total of $19.5 billion to be paid over 40 years.
#2: This bond proposal will bring $247 for every $100k of assessed home value tax to property owners that will not go directly to your community schools.
#3: SDUSD still has $2.1 billion in bonds left to sell that we are paying for, yet they are asking us to add $3.5 billion to that debt.
#4: In April and May of this year the school board approved 2% across the board pay raises for all employees and a 1% payout. This was in addition to the 5% raise in 2015.
#5: The ballot measure specifically states that “approval of this measure does not guarantee that the specific projects listed by the District will be funded by the sale of the bonds.”
#6: The expansion and renovation of Terminal 2 at the San Diego Airport in 2013 was $1 billion.
#7: If you took just the $9.9 billion ($6.4+$3.5) and divided it equally among the 200 schools in the District each school would receive $12.2 million.
The links below shows part of a new $3.5 billion school bond being floated by San Diego Unified are identical to those promised in previous measures. Some of those projects have been prominently listed but never implemented while others have been later ruled illegal by the courts.
https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/?s=San+Diego+unified+costs
We all agree that education is important and that it should be resourced appropriately. This measure not only questions the trust of SDUSD to manage these projects, it clearly does not place the schools first.
I ask that you Vote NO on YY and start holding the District and the Board of Education accountable.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Bret Caslavka
President
Parents for Quality Education
Community Voices for Education