ADS PROMOTE EASIER HURDLE FOR BONDS.

Byline: Terri Hardy Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Contending that voters are ready to spend more to fix and build campuses, supporters of a March ballot measure that would make it easier to pass local school bond measures statewide launched a $10 million advertising campaign Tuesday.

The campaign for Proposition 26, led by the California Teachers Association and Silicon Valley CEO Reed Hastings, stresses the need for more classrooms and promises strict monitoring of how the bond funds are spent.

Not mentioned in the ads is what Proposition 26 does. It changes the percentage of voters needed to pass a local bond election from two-thirds to a simple majority, meaning nearly all bond issues would pass.

Gale Kaufman, the lead political consultant running the Proposition 26 campaign, said the ads ``made it clear what (Proposition 26) is really about: investing in our schools and new and tougher accountability.''

Opponents of the measure say the ads are a smokescreen masking the fact that Proposition 26 could mean a substantial hike in property taxes.

``This is a $10 million to $20 million campaign to obfuscate issues,'' said Jon Coupal, the president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the organization leading opposition to Proposition 26.

``This should be a debate over taxes and how much of a tax increase the public is willing to spend. We have no doubt that this will lead to hundreds of millions of dollars in additional tax liability.''

The state Constitution requires a two-thirds vote for local school-bond measures because passage means increased property taxes. The amendment itself will need a two-thirds majority.

Coupal contends that making it more difficult to pass a local bond issue protects the homeowner, who is obligated to pay the increased taxes. Even with that higher standard, he said communities committed to improving their schools have passed $12 billion in local school bond issues over the past three years.

CTA leaders argue that the two-thirds percentage is unfair and that California is one of the few states requiring more than a simple majority. Of 771 local school bonds on ballots since 1986, they say 54 percent passed, but 95 percent were favored by at least a simple majority.

Voters historically have been unwilling to change the two-thirds requirement. In 1993, a similar measure failed by a 70-30 margin, Coupal said.

Although he admits his opposition campaign is outgunned financially, with a $2 million advertising budget, Coupal said voters are likely to turn down Proposition 26 ``when they find out what it's really about.''

The group's advertisements began Monday. The initiative will appear on the March 7 state ballot.

Last month in a California Field Poll, 43 percent of respondents favored Proposition 26.

Michael Latner, project manager for the Field Institute,said that although voters have in the past decade favored bond measures, Proposition 26 is unlikely to pass.

"If a measure starts out behind, there is virtually no chance of its passing," Latner said.

Supporters of Proposition 26 say both California's vibrant economy and the clear need to improve schools have created a climate in which voters are willing to go against tradition and change the bond-approval percentage.

Bill Hauk, president of the California Business Roundtable, said voters have a real obligation to prepare students for the workplace.

With a history of problems in the spending of Los Angeles Unified School District's Proposition BB bond money, supporters of Proposition 26 were quick to assure those attending a news conference that there would be better accountability under their plan. However, the measures they cited, such as independent audits and a list for voters of projects to be funded with the bonds, were also part of the Proposition BB plan.

Coupal said claims that there would be greater accountability for bond money under Proposition 26 are "absolutely meaningless."