A crucial lifeline for California’s public schools: supporting Proposition 2

OPINION – As a local superintendent dedicated to the health, safety, and educational success of our students, I join school leaders from across the Bay Area and California who are urging voters to support Proposition 2 on Election Day.

Prop 2 provides a pivotal opportunity to address the longstanding issues plaguing our public schools—issues that have direct, detrimental effects on our children’s learning environments, and which can be solved by voting YES this fall.

Prop 2 does commits important resources to supporting the facility infrastructure of schools – without raising taxes.  Simply put, Prop 2 is an investment in improving the learning conditions for our students.

For far too long, California’s local public schools have needed repairs and updates. With many of our schools built over 70 years ago, the unfortunate reality is that too many of these facilities are failing to meet today’s basic safety standards. Alarmingly, 38% of children in California attend schools that lack essential amenities, exposing them to dangers such as asbestos, mold, unsafe drinking water, and extreme heat.

Like in our San Lorenzo schools, students are trying to learn and prepare for college, career and life in classrooms that are too hot and severely impacted by fires and natural disasters in the Bay Area. When smoke from wildfires flow into and through the region, students should be able to be in schools with air filtration systems that provide some protection from poor air quality conditions and when record back-to-school temperatures continue, they deserve reprieve from triple digit heat.

Prop 2 is a generational opportunity to make progress on providing the resources to fix these ailments and will result in safe learning environments where students can thrive.

A $10 billion investment in local public schools, Prop. 2 funding will target urgent repairs and upgrades. This funding will address critical infrastructure needs such as fixing leaking roofs, modernizing malfunctioning bathrooms, and removing harmful materials. Safe drinking water and functional bathrooms are not luxuries—they are basic rights for all students — and Prop 2 will help schools across the Bay Area get the updates needed to achieve these basics and more.

Addressing these outstanding safety measures that will have a direct impact on the security of a student’s learning environment is paramount in ensuring nurturing surroundings where our kids can thrive.

While voters may be aware of previous school bond efforts in California, Prop 2 is different, and worth readers consideration. Aside from providing the funding that our schools so desperately need, Prop 2 also contains strict accountability measures that guarantee funding is utilized effectively and transparently. These provisions are essential so that voters can rest assured their investment in our schools will be monitored through public disclosure and independent audits.

While my jurisdiction as the Superintendent of the San Lorenzo Unified School District is to oversee our public schools in TK-12, I’m also encouraged to see that Prop 2 provides $600 million for career technical education classrooms and job training centers and $1.5 billion for local community colleges. With the cost of four-year universities soaring, community colleges have become an essential pathway for middle-class families seeking affordable education.

California has made a commitment to providing a year of education prior to kindergarten – transitional kindergarten or TK and these younger students need to be provided with an appropriate classroom for learning that haven’t needed to exist before today. Kindergarten and Transitional Kindergarten learners need specialized classrooms and Prop 2 will provide essential support for our youngest and most vulnerable students.

Proposition 2 is more than just a vote this November — it is a lifeline for students and communities for years to come. As an educator, it is my responsibility to advocate for a system that prioritizes safety, equity, and opportunity for every student, which is why I urge parents, advocates and community members to come together in support of Proposition 2. By doing so, we are investing in our students’ futures and ensuring that they can learn in environments that not only meet their basic needs but also empower them to thrive.

Dr. Camp is the Superintendent of the San Lorenzo Unified School District and president-elect of the Association of California School Administrators.