The Coalition for Adequate School Housing (C.A.S.H.) announced leading a radio and television issue advocacy effort in support of Assembly Bill 2235, a measure that would allow voters to decide this November on urgently needed funding for school facilities throughout the state.

California schools are aging, desperately in need of billions of dollars in repairs, upgrades and technology to prepare students for today’s workforce. This backlog grows by the day and our schools need new funding.

It has been nearly a decade since California provided state voters with the opportunity to vote on a statewide school bond.

There are no more construction dollars. Local districts are doing their part to partner with the state, it’s time for the state to meet their end of the bargain.

Since its inception, the state facilities funding program has overseen the construction of safe and secure classrooms for over 1.3 million of California’s children and modernized facilities for over 3.4 million more.  State funds are disbursed when they can be matched with local district funds, providing for a strong state and local partnership.

With the State of California’s Department of Finance projecting that 343,000 new students will be entering the public school system within the next decade, it is critical that schools be able to meet the facilities needs of the incoming children and the existing 6.2 million students currently enrolled in California’s K-12 public school system.

Also supporting this critical issue advocacy effort is the California Building Industry Association.

“Providing our children with safe and modern schools has always been a top priority of new homebuyers and our industry,” said Dave Cogdill, CEO of the California Building Industry Association.  “Preservation of California’s successful school facilities program is essential for our long-time educational allies and the overall health of our fragile state economy,” added Cogdill.

A study by the Center for Strategic Economic Research found that the existing $3 billion pipeline of new school construction and modernization work could result annually in more than 15,000 new jobs, $990 million of employee compensation (salaries/wages and benefits), $99.8 million in state and local tax revenue and more than $2.5 billion in additional economic benefits for California’s economy.

Both the radio and television issue advocacy ads stress the importance of allowing voters the opportunity to approve new funding for school facilities and calling on state policy makers to approve AB 2235.

It’s critical that we put our Children first and that voters be given the chance to decide on whether or not to maintain a school funding program essential to students  and their success.  We strongly believe that if given that opportunity voters will ultimately make the right decision, but first we need California’s policy makers to give them that opportunity by passing and signing into law AB 2235.

To view or listen to the ads please click on each respective link, TV Spot – https://vimeo.com/101972091 and Radio Spot –https://vimeo.com/101973835