This page has consistently supported passage of school bonds in order to provide a decent educational environment for California's burgeoning student population. Under normal circumstances, we would urge passage of Proposition 55, a $12.3 billion general obligation bond for construction and renovation of badly needed facilities from kindergarten through college. But California is confronted with an unprecedented budget crisis, the likes of which could drive the state into insolvency.

Which is why we cannot support Proposition 55 at this time.

At this time is the operative phrase. The Legislature should have put the measure on next November's ballot rather than the March 2 ballot. By November, voters will have a far better idea of the state's fiscal situation.

The most pressing issue at this juncture is getting the state out of debt and keeping it there. Both objectives can be achieved by passage of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's economic recovery package. It consists of Proposition 57, which would authorize $15 billion in bonds to help retire the massive debt his administration inherited, and Proposition 58, which would help prevent the kind of reckless spending binges that caused the current fiscal crisis.

That crisis threatens California's creditworthiness to such a degree that the state's bonds are slipping toward junk-bond status. The state is in such sorry shape that the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst projects that the state's debt ratio could rise from about 3.5 percent of the general fund today to about 9 percent by 2009. Simply stated, California's indebtedness is approaching the danger zone.

Which isn't to diminish the compelling case for the construction and refurbishing critical to relieving severe overcrowding in California's schools. Many facilities are in deplorable shape. And far too many of the state's 6 million students in kindergarten through high school are being shoehorned into trailers and other makeshift classrooms. Meantime, the state's institutions of higher learning, which help create the jobs so essential to California's economy, need to expand and modernize their aging facilities.

It's just a question of timing. Voters are frustrated enough by the fiscal crisis without being bombarded on March 2 by two large bond issues totaling $27.3 billion.

Passage of Schwarzenegger's bond is fundamental to California's economic recovery. Should that measure fail, the state will be so far in debt that the Draconian cuts required to help balance the books will be devastating for education. Conversely, voter approval of the governor's measure would enable the state to start climbing out of its fiscal black hole and begin to make prudent spending decisions.

Tactically speaking, the Democratic-controlled Legislature should have scheduled Proposition 55 for the November ballot. It should be noted, however, that if the school bond measure is defeated on March 2, it automatically will be placed before the voters again in November. If by then – assuming passage of Propositions 57 and 58 – California's fiscal prognosis is much improved, this page likely will recommend voter approval.