Ouch, that's got to hurt

The Los Angeles Times editorializes today against Measure Q, LAUSD's $7 billion bond on the November ballot.

More bothersome is that the dollar figure more than doubled in a matter of days, with little strategy for spending it -- the measure contains vague promises, overlapping projects and more than $2 billion in unspecified future expenses. The very manner in which it ballooned -- after a poll showed that voters, when primed, seemed willing to pass a bigger measure -- gives us little confidence in the district's ability to spend this bond wisely.

(snip)

Without a plan that justifies and guides the expenditures, however, there is too much opportunity for board members and bureaucrats in this highly politicized district to push pet projects ...

The editorial also questions the legality of the district's vague attribution of $1.3 billion in bond money to future repairs. The 2000 state constitutional amendment that lowered the percentage need to pass a school bond from 66.6 to 55 percent required that specific projects be listed, the editorial board writes, and LAUSD's vagueness doesn't cut it.

The bond would be the fifth in 11 years for the district.