CR trustees vote to support Proposition 13

The College of the Redwoods Board of Trustees voted on a resolution to support Proposition 13 at their Feb. 4 meeting. Proposition 13 is the Schools and Colleges Facilities Bond, and is the largest education facilities bond in state history.

The bond will invest $15 billion in making California children safer and school buildings healthy, safe and conducive to learning. Of that $15 billion, $2 billion will be spent on California community colleges.

“CR has worked very hard to keep college affordable for our community,” said Danny Kelley, Vice President of the CR Board of Trustees. “We have deferred maintenance on older buildings to keep tight budgets balanced year after year. We are asking our students and community to support this ballot initiative on March 3 to provide our campus with access to a portion of $2 billion in facility renovation funding. Our administration is committed to finding a mix of creative funding sources including matching grant programs.”

The CR trustees and the chancellor’s office want to remind voters that California community colleges are the largest provider of workforce training in the nation. Seven in 10 of California’s nurses receive their training at a California community college. Eight in 10 of California’s police officers, firefighters and EMTs are trained at a California community college. One in four community college students in the nation attend a California community college.

The chancellor’s office reports that each $1 billion in school facility infrastructure investments creates 17,000 middle class jobs. They add that Proposition 13 will not raise state taxes and state matching funds will reduce the need for additional local property taxes for college facilities.