California’s public education system serves more than 8.1 million students at over 9,500 K-12 and Higher Education facilities statewide. A growing and diverse population and the need for lifelong learning in today’s economy have increased the demand for new and upgraded facilities.

According to the Department of Education, over one million of California’s more than six million K-12 students are in classrooms over 25 years old. However, recent actions have improved the outlook for education facilities. In 2000, voters approved Prop 39 which reduced the 2/3 “super-majority” vote needed to authorize local bonds for school construction to 55%. Since this change, the lowered threshold facilitated the passing of half of K-12 and ¾ of Higher Education bonds. Slower growth in the K-12 caseload and other institutional changes have also played a role to lessen the overall need for new facilities.

In 2006 the Office of Public School Construction projected a need of 32,000 new classrooms by 2010 (based on a classroom size of 25-27 students). In addition, they estimated that 45,000 classrooms would need to be modernized over the next five years.