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Calif. Governor Seeks $11.6 Billion More for Facilities

Even though California voters approved $7.3 billion in new bonds in November to repair schools and build new classrooms, that funding won’t begin to meet the state’s continuing need for more classroom space, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said last week during his State of the State address.

Laying out just a few of his education priorities for the first year of his second term, the Republican said he would ask the legislature to approve $11.6 billion in additional bonds to build another 15,000 classrooms and to renovate 40,000 more. That would be on top of the 10,000 new classrooms and the 38,000 that will be renovated thanks to the bond measure approved last fall.

“We must invest in education,” said Gov. Schwarzenegger, who approached the podium on crutches because of a broken leg from a skiing accident. “I have seen the need with my own eyes as I’ve toured schools throughout the state. I went to a school with bedsheets on the windows rather than blinds. I went to a school that was so overcrowded, the gym locker room was...