Ventura County – School Bonds – 2024 Election

Note: this post will be periodically updated! (10/14/2024). New endorsements and interesting bits of information are being added all the time!

Measure E, Measure G, Measure H, Measure M, Measure N

School Bond Measures

VOTE “YES” ON ALL SCHOOL BOND MEASURES! It doesn’t matter if you don’t have kids!

Be selfish! Support schools!

Public schools are the engine behind our economy and our democracy, and bonds help them correct the wild inequality in school services, facilities and staff that occur between rich and poor districts.

  • This is your chance to improve your own future! Listening to the GOP and supporting their public-school-killing voucher plans, means your future will be a dystopian nightmare filled with grownup feral children.
  • Investing in kids now, means you are helping to create a future world of educated adults upon whom you will depend for goods and services.

“California school facilities funding is not distributed equally. Research shows the existing facilities funding system favors larger, more affluent school districts.

Districts raise funding through property taxes; the amount of money they can bring in through local bond measures is restricted to a certain percentage of a property’s assessed value.

What that means: Districts with higher value property (more expensive houses and lucrative commercial properties) can collect more money; some districts can fund repairs without the state’s help. Districts in poorer communities can raise fewer dollars — even if they serve more students — and are more reliant on limited state funding.

Put simply, “the more money you can raise, the more money you’ll get from the state,” said Sara Hinkley, the California program manager at the Center for Cities + Schools at UC Berkeley.

Some wealthier districts can afford to fund projects and wait for future reimbursement while a lack of funding stops projects in poorer districts from starting at all.

“Lower income and smaller school communities will always be playing catch up and will never be able to compete in terms of facilities with other larger or wealthier communities because of the way the system has been set up,” said Lynwood Unified School District Superintendent Gudiel R. Crosthwaite…

…Throughout California, 38% of K-12 students go to schools that do not meet the minimum standard to be considered clean, safe, and functional.

Poorly maintained schools are prone to disruption during extreme weather, like September’s heat wave and the historic storms last winter. They may even pose health risks to students and staff.

The “WHY” of one district having higher property values than the next, and its downstream effect on public education, is part of the study of Critical Race Theory. However, the uncomfortable answers found there are the reasons that the GOP has turned its definition upside-down and demonized it.

If you haven’t heard of “The Color of Law,” it’s time to download this short and very readable book from an online bookseller, or borrow it from the library. Many see the creation of poor neighborhoods as one step above accidental – a “manifestation of unscrupulous real estate agents, unethical mortgage lenders, and exclusionary covenants working outside the law.”

However, the author, Richard Rothstein, has documented how “government not merely ignored discriminatory practices in the residential sphere, but promoted them. The impact has been devastating for generations of African-Americans who were denied the right to live where they wanted to live, and raise and school their children where they could flourish most successfully.”

Measure E – OXNARD HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT IMPROVEMENTS

  • To improve the quality of education at local high schools; modernize/expand/construct career technical education facilities; make health, safety and security improvements; and replace HVAC and deteriorating plumbing/sewer systems; shall Oxnard Union High School District’s measure be adopted authorizing $285,000,000 of bonds at legal rates, generating on average $21,780,000 annually while bonds are outstanding, with annual audits, citizens’ oversight, all money staying local, at rates of approximately $17.84 per $100,000 assessed value, with no projected increase to existing tax rates?
GOOD club
Cause action fundCentral Coast Labor Council

(CAUSE) “CAUSE Action recommends supporting Measure E, a $257 million bond proposed by OUHSD. This measure aims to renovate current school facilities and fund workforce housing, a pioneering initiative for our region. Importantly, Measure E will extend the existing tax rate of $47.69 per $100,000 of property value for all District Bonds, meaning residents in the OUHSD districts will not face any new taxes.”

Measure E, Measure G, Measure H, Measure M, Measure N, Top

Measure G – BRIGGS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT IMPROVEMENTS

  • Shall the City of Oxnard-sponsored measure to continue current funding for Community Facilities District No. 5 (RiverPark) and maintain community safety, enhanced police protection, neighborhood/park patrols, keeping public areas clean, safe, well-maintained, including parks, open space; maintain flood protection, without any increase to the existing maximum tax rate, continuing ongoing public disclosure of spending and annual reports — be adopted? 
GOOD club

Measure E, Measure G, Measure H, Measure M, Measure N, Top

Measure H – VENTURA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT IMPROVEMENTS

  • To aid in preserving, improving and expanding academic programs including reading, writing, music, art, science and math; attract and retain qualified teachers; and maintain school mental health programs, shall Ventura Unified School District’s measure be adopted renewing its existing parcel tax for eight years at the same rate of $59 per parcel, raising approximately $2.5 million annually, with independent citizens’ oversight and all funds spent on local schools?

Measure E, Measure G, Measure H, Measure M, Measure N, Top

Measure M – SANTA PAULA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT IMPROVEMENTS

  • Middle School Modernization Bond. With no projected increase in current estimated tax rates, shall Santa Paula Unified School District’s measure to construct, upgrade and modernize elementary and middle school classrooms, libraries, cafeterias and restrooms be approved, authorizing $28.4 million of bonds with average levies below $34 per $100,000 of assessed valuation while outstanding (approximately $2.1 million annually), legal rates, citizen oversight, audits, full public disclosure of all spending and no funds taken by the State and spent elsewhere?
Central Coast Labor Council

Measure E, Measure G, Measure H, Measure M, Measure N, Top

Measure N – SANTA PAULA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT IMPROVEMENTS

  • With funds that cannot be taken by the State and spent elsewhere, shall Santa Paula Unified School District’s measure to rebuild and upgrade Bryden Gym; construct performing arts, vocational/ career training facilities and a community pool be adopted, authorizing $36 million of bonds with estimated average levies of $24 per $100,000 of assessed valuation (approximately $2.1 million annually) while outstanding, legal rates, audits, citizen oversight, State matching funds eligibility and full disclosure of all spending?
GOOD club
Central Coast Labor Council

Measure E, Measure G, Measure H, Measure M, Measure N, Top

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