The Long Beach school district could be able to build a new school and add to three others with state help, if voters pass a $12.3 billion state bond measure raising money for school construction.

Proponents tout Proposition 55, the school facilities bond on the March 2 ballot, as one step toward relieving overcrowded or run-down classrooms.

Proposition 55 "provides vitally needed money for overcrowded schools in Long Beach and throughout the state,' said Shaun Lumachi, vice president for government affairs at the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.

"Construction activities would also add hundreds of thousands of new jobs throughout the state,' he added.

The Long Beach district hopes to get roughly $31.5 million in state matching funds from the ballot measure, according to district spokesman Dick Van Der Laan.

About $20 million would go toward a new elementary school at the site of the former Dooley's hardware store near Del Amo and Long Beach boulevards.

About $2.5 million would go to a project expanding Roosevelt Elementary at 1574 Linden Ave. About $6 million would be used to build a library and additional classrooms and offices at Colin Powell Academy at 150 Victoria St.

And about $3 million would go toward converting Sutter Elementary at 5075 Daisy Ave. into a middle school.

The district has already secured funding for three other schools it is in the process of building, Van Der Laan said. The bond measure could give the district additional money for modernization projects.

Proposition 55 would also give Cal State Long Beach more than $63 million to replace one of its older science buildings, said university spokesman Rick Gloady.

Endorsements, foes

The Long Beach school district Board of Education, the Teachers Association of Long Beach and the League of Women Voters of Long Beach have endorsed Proposition 55.

But while opponents of Proposition 55 do not contest the need for more and better California classrooms, they argue there are more financially responsible ways to build them. They also question whether the money would make its way to schools and districts most in need.

"The case hasn't been made for me on Prop 55,' said Pasadena Community College Trustee Geoffrey Baum, who cast the lone dissenting vote last month when the college's trustees voted to endorse the measure.

Baum questioned the timing of the measure, which comes as the state struggles with a structural deficit between the amount of money it takes in and the amount of money it spends.

"There will be times when you have to take a significant long-term capital investment, but I think that right now we're not in a position to be able to take on such a big debt burden, and I'd like to find ways to better manage existing revenue so we can set aside funds for long- term capital improvements,' Baum said.

The money from Proposition 55 would be split between branches of education, with $10 billion going to K-12 districts and $2.3 billion shared between the University of California, California State University and community college systems.

In all but "hardship' cases, districts will be required to match 50 percent of the cost of new construction and 40 percent of the cost of modernization.

The measure earmarks $2.44 billion to districts with schools classified as critically overcrowded, and up to $300 million would be available to charter schools.

No funds for ABC

Not all school districts would get money. The ABC Unified School District won't be getting any money, since it already received about $60 million from the state for a recently completed modernization project, said Toan Nguyen, the district's chief financial officer.

"We still have needs, but there's other school districts that didn't get in line first, and now it's their turn basically,' he said.

It is estimated that Proposition 55 will cost about $24.7 billion to pay off the principal and interest on the bond over the next 30 years, with payments estimated at about $823 million per year.

In the past 10 years, voters have approved $20.1 billion in state bonds for K-12 school construction, $1.9 billion of which remains, and $5.1 billion in general obligation bonds, all of which has been spent, for higher education capital improvement projects.

The state currently carries $41 billion in bonded debt, with another $21 billion in approved bonds waiting to be sold.

A narrow majority of voters back Proposition 55, a Public Policy Institute of California survey found last month. The survey found 50 percent of likely voters backed the measure, 38 percent opposed it and 12 percent were undecided.