Author of school bond measure says it won’t make 2014 ballot

Reporting from Sacramento —  Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo) said Tuesday that her proposal for a $4.3-billion school bond measure will not be on the November ballot, citing opposition from Gov. Jerry Brown.

“We’ve come to the end of the road,” Buchanan said in a statement. “The governor made it clear to the speaker of the Assembly ... that he does not want a school bond on the same ballot as the water bond and his Rainy Day Fund proposition. We have no commitment of his support for a future bond.”

Buchanan had lined up support for the measure from dozens of influential groups, including the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Teachers Assn., the California School Boards Assn. and the California State PTA.

It was also backed by the Los Angeles Community College District and Los Angeles Unified School District. Buchanan noted that the last statewide school bond -- $10.4 billion -- was approved in 2006 and money is short to repair and modernize campuses.

In the end, it came down to a difference in philosophy about what role the state should play in local school matters.

“In our meetings with the Department of Finance, they stress that the governor questions what role, if any, the state should play in funding school facilities,” Buchanan said. “We know that the responsibility for educating our children is not written in city or county ordinances; it is written in the Constitution of the State of California. That is why I believe the state does have a role in funding school facilities.”