San Jose Unified School District asks for another $1.2 Billion in taxes

4 min readOct 7, 2024

Written in joint collaboration of The Independent Leadership Group and Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility.

Few parents of school-aged children would consider Bay Area public schools a success. Parents are voting on the failure of their local schools with their feet: enrollment declines accelerated during Covid, and middle-class parents are increasingly opting for expensive private schools for their children

How are our local public schools responding to this on-going crisis? Not with the introspection and self-analysis required.

For the fifth time in recent years, the San Jose Unified School District (SJUSD) is promoting yet another expensive bond measure that will be paid for by your property taxes, without any effort to understand why our schools are underperforming.

SJUSD’s bond measure only needs 55% approval to pass. The question is — has SJUSD been accountable for the additional funds from all the previous bonds?

SJUSD Audit

SJUSD, one of the Bay Area’s largest school districts, has glaring issues with leadership and is failing students. Having completed over 80 interviews, a 40-page Grand Jury audit analyzed complaints about the San Jose Unified School District.

The Civil Grand Jury repeatedly saw a disconnect between the Trustees’ stated priorities and the realities of issues.
The Civil Grand Jury found significant barriers to public viewing and participation in SJUSD Board meetings.
The Civil Grand Jury outlined the failure of the Board’s function to advocate for parents, students, and families.
The Trustees did not appreciate SJUSD’s responsibility to investigate the possible violation of its own rules, separately from a criminal investigation, or investigation by another entity.

Santa Clara County Courts — adrift leadership issues at San Jose Unified School District

5th SJUSD bond would go on property taxes.

SJUSD is asking for a fifth bond on property taxes without any success metrics or accountability on how this money will be used. This bond will be for $1.2 billion in facilities & teacher housing. On the same ballot duplicating efforts, the State is also seeking an additional $10 billion school facilities bond. Neither bond offers accountability to the taxpayer. The SJUSD bond alone will more than double the tax burden of three existing bonds already supported by our property taxes. See the attached property bill as an example for the current bonds (measure Y, SJUSD 2012, SJUSD bond 5, and SJUSD 2002)

Why is SJUSD mailing glossy marketing material to property owners?

Consider the attached six-page glossy mailed to property owners in the SJUSD. Imagine the costs: postage, database source for addresses, hiring marketeers for word copy, photographer, graphics, paper, to name a few. Is it proper for SJUSD to spend taxpayer money to advertise for more taxes, rather than plowing any money possible into the education of our children. This is a glaring example of how SJUSD priorities are misaligned with public expectations of accountability, and a leadership team that is deaf to the educational needs of the community.

Accountability and success metrics

Part of Measure R would go to affordable housing, again with no success metrics. There are now a myriad of nonprofits, County departments, State departments, and City resources dedicated to affordable housing. Duplicating efforts, without centralized oversight, will only worsen the housing crisis.

We advise San Jose residents to carefully consider this latest $1.2 billion tax request from SJUSD. We should demand accountability through clearly defined metrics before approving additional taxes for a failing system. We advise voting NO on Measure R.

Resources attached below: