(Don't) pay it forward.

• Author: Peters, Charles
• Position: TILTING AT WINDMILLS - School districts financing - Brief article

Just after I wrote the preceding item, I picked up the New York Times and found myself confronted with a story that seemed to suggest my optimism had been premature. Headlined "California School Finance Upgrades by Making the Next Generation Pay," it describes a financing device called "capital appreciation bonds" that enables school districts to borrow building funds for which they can delay "payment for years, or even decades." For one loan, the Poway Unified School District has borrowed $105 million...