Analysis of causal criteria for passage or failure of general obligation bonds in K--12 school districts in Kern County, California

This dissertation is a research study analyzing the causal criteria for passage or failure of General Obligation (GO) Bonds in the K--12 public school districts in Kern County, California that attempted a GO Bond election from 1987 through 2001.; This descriptive study involves 4 research questions, 2 of which were analyzed with data collected on survey questionnaires accomplished via telephone, 1 with Superintendents and the other with Directors of Maintenance. Analysis of the other 2 questions was accomplished through study of historical data available on the Educational Data Partnership Internet site for each district.; Confidentially and/or sensitivity of the information collected from each district/school site was assured since no names of individuals, schools or districts were included in either of the data files which were tabulated in MS Excel. The district and school names were deleted and replaced with a number based on a random order of collection.; Research question 1 analyzed if there are any distinctions that exist between districts that attempted to pass a General Obligation Bond between 1987 and 2001. The response to this would be an unequivocal yes, distinctions do exist. Elementary districts benefit from lower funding requirements and higher voter awareness opportunities that High School and Unified districts do not enjoy. Research question 2 addressed the district level strategy that goes into a GO Bond election. Research question 3 examined the history of GO Bond elections in K--12 school districts in Kern County, CA. Research question 4 examined the condition of Ken County K--12 school facilities from a Director of Maintenance perspective.; All four questions revealed heretofore-unknown information about K--12 public schools in Kern County, CA. Research study discriminators were identified based upon age and income demographics, historical General Obligation bond passage rate, quality of interior and exterior facilities, condition of facility plant systems and usage, as well as satisfaction of environmental conditions.