Two years ago, voters approved the statewide measure, Proposition 47, which provided $13 billion for new school construction and modernization.

In less than two weeks, citizens will have the chance to vote on another school construction bond, Proposition 55. The $12.3 billion bond would pay for school construction and renovation projects for public elementary, middle and high schools as well as community and state colleges.

In 2000, the state Legislature approved putting Propositions 47 and 55 on the ballot, two years apart. If Prop. 55 fails on March 2, it would automatically be returned to the ballot in November.

Detractors of Prop. 55 say the bond will be costly. The process to build schools with state funds is rife with bureaucracy and needs to be reformed, said Mike Spence, president of the California Republican Assembly, a statewide group of volunteer political activists.

Local school officials, however, argue that the passage of Prop. 55 is crucial to their districts. In California, school districts share the cost of building public schools with the state, with each providing half of the funds in most cases.

Without state funds to build new schools, officials say they will have to postpone construction. With school districts in Southwest County expected to grow by at least 400 new students each, the bond's failure would mean increased class sizes and overcrowding, officials say.

It could also translate into an increased number of portable classrooms on campuses and the possibility of turning to year-round schedules or school days with double sessions.

To accommodate the growth, local officials have been planning to build classrooms for incoming students.

"The passage of it (Prop. 55) for districts like Lake Elsinore and the others in Southwest Riverside County, which is the fastest growing county in the state, (is) imperative," said Sharron Lindsay, superintendent of the Lake Elsinore Unified School District. "We're going to have children who continue to arrive and we need a consistent stream of funding to build schools. If you think of it, Lake Elsinore is growing every year by approximately 700 students ---- that's an elementary school a year."

Some school boards have already endorsed the proposition while others plan to vote on resolutions endorsing it. The Temecula Valley Unified School District's board endorsed the measure Tuesday and the Murrieta Valley Unified School District board plans to vote on a resolution today.

Lindsay said the Lake Elsinore district will need another six schools within the next 10 years, including another high school and middle school and several elementary schools.

"We need facilities if we're going to continue class-size reduction," she said.

Class-size reduction is a state policy that mandates a maximum of 20 students in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms.

If Prop. 55 fails, the Lake Elsinore district could consider returning to year-round schedules or having double-session school days. Students, however, get less instruction in double sessions, while some students would go to school in the dark and others would go home in the dark. Both options also have additional costs, she said.

"Most districts avoid (both options) at all costs," Lindsay said.

In Murrieta, Prop. 55 could fund the construction of at least two elementary schools, a middle school and a third high school, totalling about $80 to $90 million in state funds, said Chuck DePreker, an assistant superintendent in the Murrieta district. Money could also be used to build new classrooms on existing campuses that now have portable buildings.

DePreker said that state funds to build schools are the district's "lifeline."

"Without the availability of funds at the state level, there's no way" to build schools, DePreker said.

In Temecula, school officials plan to apply for an estimated $100 million in Prop. 55 funds to finance two middle schools, two elementary schools and a fourth high school at a minimum, Assistant Superintendent Jeff Okun said.

If the state bond fails, Okun said, Temecula school officials may have to ask voters to approve a local bond. In addition, he said, school construction could be delayed or scaled back and officials might be forced to look at creative scheduling.

In the Menifee Union School District, officials are counting on Prop. 55 funds to build at least three schools and a joint-use gym at Menifee Valley Middle School, and to modernize Menifee Elementary.

The district plans to build two elementary schools that would open in July 2005. Ideally, money still remaining from Prop. 47 would pay for those schools, said Dan Wood, assistant superintendent of business services. If not, the district would apply for Prop. 55 funds.

If Prop. 55 fails this year, the district could pay to build the two elementary schools, but doing so would deplete its construction budget, Wood said.

Growth in Southwest County school districts, officials say, is outpacing growth throughout the county. Riverside County is increasing by 16,000 to 18,000 students each year and would need to build three classrooms every school day to keep up, county Superintendent David Long said.

About 15 schools a year are being built in Riverside County, Long said. There are about 150 schools in the county in some state of planning, he said.

While educators and school backers support Prop. 55, the California Republican Assembly and other groups concerned about increased taxes oppose it

"It's a bad deal for taxpayers," said Spence, the group's president. "If this passes, we will be approving more money in interest payments than there will be for school construction."

Schools will be built, but the bond's interest payments could come out of general funds, which would lead to cuts in other areas of education, he argued.

Spence said the school construction process at the state level "has lots of regulations and waste that's built in the system. It's riddled with red tape and regulation and excessive bureaucracy that costs tax payers billions."

He argued for reform and establishing a pay-as-you-go system, with the Legislature approving projects on an annual basis as they come up.

A pay-as-you-go system is not practical, said Kathy Fairbanks, spokeswoman for the Yes on 55 campaign. The state can't afford to keep up with needed school repairs each year, let alone new construction, she added.

Critics of the bond measure also argue that voters should wait to approve it until the economy improves.

"If we wait, our problems are only going to get worse," Fairbanks said. "It's going to be more costly in the long run."