This version of Proposition 13 warrants a ‘yes’

No, it’s not that Proposition 13.

The only statewide measure on the ballot March 3 is a simple school bond. It has nothing to do with the measure to limit property tax increases that was approved in 1978.

They probably should have retired that jersey number, for you sports guys.

The measure on the upcoming ballot has become a bit entangled with the famous Proposition 13, because there’s another petition drive underway to put a measure on the November ballot that would modify the property tax limits. News reports can get muddled if you don’t stay on top of the issues.

But this proposition is just a $15 billion school bond, although it does have a few differences from your run of the mill school bond.

We’re going to endorse it because of one of those quirks.

The bulk of the money — $9 billion — goes to K-12 schools. But it’s not dumped into a single mosh pit for new construction that favors well-off districts able to hire deft grant writers.

The measure steers $5.2 billion of that $9 billion toward modernization of existing schools, with things like dealing with lead in water systems and asbestos specifically mentioned in the law’s language.

These are critical priorities for the state’s children, and there are many small districts that wouldn’t be able to to take those steps without support. Local schools might not be able to tap many of those funds, but sometimes you have to step up and do what’s right for our fellow Californians.

The law also designates $500 million for charter schools. That’s a recognition of the new reality.

And there’s another $500 million for career and tech education. We’d like to see more in that pot, but for so many years there hasn’t been any.

There’s $2 billion each for the community colleges, the State University and the University of California. Seems like a lot of money, but it won’t go far stretched over the state. Honestly, we’re rather see more of that going to career and tech education, to create an alternative to the “You have to go to college” syndrome.

But we’re way beyond looking for perfection.

The measure also includes limits on the amount of debt districts can assume, which seems like a good idea.

But it also reduces the developer fees that can be charged against multi-family housing, and we’re not sure about that. People who live in apartments don’t have children?

We get the climate change thing, but we still need classrooms for our kinds.

This Proposition 13 is not perfect, but it’s worth a yes, in our opinion.