A reader sends me this item from NPR about school districts in California. Here’s the gist:

Collectively, the districts have borrowed billions in loans that defer payments for years — leaving many districts owing far more than they borrowed…. In the West Contra Costa Schools’ case, that $2.5 million bond will cost the district a whopping $34 million to repay…. Perhaps the best example of the CAB [capital appreciation bond] issue is suburban San Diego’s Poway Unified School District, which borrowed a little more than $100 million. But “debt service will be almost $1 billion,” Bill Lockyer, California state treasurer says. “So, over nine times amount of the borrowing. There are worse ones, but that’s pretty bad.”