School bonds

The biggest-ever bond referendum in Texas was passed Saturday for Dallas schools, while voters in only one city chose to leave Dallas Area Rapid Transit.

With enrollment and funding not keeping pace with rising costs, public education is feeling rating pressure at both the K-12 and higher education levels.

A New Jersey suburb will issue short-term debt as its officials try to recover $4.8 million stolen after a cyberattacker accessed a school district email.

Fitch Ratings cited Sacramento City Unified School District's fiscal challenges in downgrading its issuer default rating to junk and assigning a negative outlook.

Debt requests are escalating as the Lone Star State accommodates a growing population and addresses aging infrastructure.

Market Intelligence analyst Jeff Lipton warns that as ESSER-era support fades, shifting enrollment patterns, voucher expansion, tax-cut dynamics and rising costs are exposing credit stress in parts of the K-12 sector — making security selection and disclosure discipline more important in 2026 and beyond.

Two rating agencies dropped their Los Angeles Unified School District outlook to negative from stable.

Two Southern California school districts received upgrades from Moody's on Tuesday. Another district was affirmed.

The sector's challenges have also impacted the overall high-yield education index.

The legislature passed bills to cut personal income tax rates over time and limit increases on homestead property tax payments to the rate of inflation.

S&P cited repeated draws on reserves for the lowered outlook.

Despite declining enrollment, Texas school district paper remains popular among investors because of the AAA-rated Texas Permanent School Fund pledge.

San Juan Unified says it has saved $636 million on debt service over the years by keeping down maturities at the long end of GO bond issues.

A Fitch rating analyst pointed to the school system's elevated long-term liability burden that could be exacerbated by future voter-approved bonds.

A state judge ordered the Arizona Legislature to enact a system for funding public school facilities that is constitutional and set a timeframe for compliance.

Ratings analysts have thrown out warning flags about California schools, but a buyside analyst says they are a good investment.

Moody's cited the district's narrowing financial position as its available fund balance sank to 4.8% of revenue in fiscal 2025.

A Nebraska state senator introduced legislation that would require a minimum 50.1% voter turnout for bond measure elections.

The statutory watchdog requirement that arrived with Proposition 39 has not delivered on its promise — and the Legislature has authority to try something better.

After voters rejected a 2019 bond proposal, Michigan's Dearborn Public Schools is mulling a possible $500 million, $1 billion or $1.5 billion bond this year.