California is making some progress in improving education for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, and it is also moving toward catching up in building crucial infrastructure for higher education.

This is no time to interrupt that progress. Californians need to stay the course and continue to invest in new schools and in fixing older ones.

So despite the size of the price tag and the state's difficult financial position, we recommend that voters approve Proposition 55, a $12.3 billion statewide school bond.

This bond measure is actually a continuation of two other school bonds voters passed in recent years. In 1998, voters approved a $9 billion bond for K-12 classroom building and modernization. Voters followed in 2002 with another bond that included higher education. This one was for $13 billion. It's a measure of the desperate need for more classroom space and facilities in California that the state is reportedly in need of $16 billion more in schools.

Why? Take a look at the tremendous growth of California, including this area. The number of new students in California is growing at the rate of about 200,000 students a year. The state now has 6.1 million K-12 students and 1.6 million students in various levels of higher education, including community colleges and universities.

The state office of Education estimates the need for classroom space to accommodate another 1 million students. These are vast numbers and a vast need. Readers only need scale it down in relation to Visalia and Tulare County to grasp the level of growth. Visalia alone is in need of two new elementary schools -- to be built with the proposed Measure P bond -- and the district just finished building two elementary schools.

Like Visalia, California has been way behind in building classrooms for a long time, which explains the current building boom. So what happened? Either schools wore out because they were overused with double sessions and year-round school, or the old schools were simply not maintained as they should have.

California has fixed part of this problem now, just as we can see in Visalia the improvement with more classroom space. It simply can't stop there.

Passage of Proposition 55 will also offer California's economy a needed boost in construction activity and it will set the state on target for meeting its space needs for the next generation.

Visalia stands to benefit as well. Measure P, Visalia Unified School District's $25 million school bond, has $15 million in matching funds waiting for it. But in years to come there will be other projects, including a fifth middle school and high school. Passage of Proposition 55 could help ensure that Visalia will have access to matching state funds when the time comes for those projects. California neglected its schools for too long. It is making amends for that oversight now with a series of needed statewide school bonds. Stay the course and make sure the job is done completely. Vote yes for Proposition 55 on Election Day.

Proposition 55
Sell a total of $12.3 billion in general obligation bonds that would finance construction of new schools and modernization of old ones.

Breakdown: $5.2 billion in new construction.

$2.2 billion in modernization.

$2.4 billion for relieving critical crowded schools.

$920 million for community college construction.

$690 million for California State University construction.

$690 million for University of California construction.