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SACRAMENTO — Voters’ widespread approval of state and local school bond measures marked a surprising victory in the face of the struggling economy, analysts said Wednesday. 

Californians approved most state and local school bond measures on Tuesday, putting $22.4 billion into the pipeline for construction and other projects. 

Topping the list was state Proposition 47, a $13 billion general obligation bond that is the largest in California history. It passed with a decisive 59 percent of the ballots cast. 

“That’s a big vote in a recession,” said Stephen Levy, a senior economist at the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy. “This is clearly an electorate that, in a time of recession, is saying these investments are important for the future and the state’s quality of life.” 

The funds generated by Proposition 47 will be used to make repairs and relieve overcrowding at schools throughout the state, from kindergarten to university campuses. 

Schools throughout California will be getting another $9.4 billion from 90 local school bond measures approved Tuesday, according to School Services of California, a company that provides consulting services to school districts. 

In many areas, school bonds are being used to make up for decades of a swelling student enrollment and limited school construction. 

Kim Rueben, a public finance economist at the Public Policy Institute of California, said the bonds also help local districts access state money, which often requires districts to provide matching funds. 

Proposition 39, approved two years ago, made it easier to pass local school bonds by lowering the percentage of votes required for approval from two-thirds to 55 percent in most cases. 

Among the measures passed Tuesday was a $3.35 billion bond for the Los Angeles Unified School District — the largest local bond in California history. The district intends to use the money to build 120 new schools and create 115,000 new classroom seats. 

The measure passed decisively with 68 percent of the vote. The LAUSD previously passed a $2.4 billion school bond in 1997. 

Elsewhere, a $685 million bond will be used to make safety repairs and upgrade facilities for the 100,000 students enrolled in the San Diego Community College District. The San Juan Unified School District in Sacramento County will put the $350 million from its successful bond measure toward “basic needed repairs of the schools we already have,” said Deidra Powell, spokeswoman for the district. 

Taxpayer groups and other opponents rallied against many of the measures, saying the money used to pay off California’s enormous bond debt would eventually come out of the pockets of taxpayers and the budgets of other state programs. 

But Levy drew a distinction between state and local school bonds. 

When voters approve local bonds, they also sign off on specific property tax increases to pay them off, he said. With state bonds, however, there’s an illusion that the money’s free because the measures are paid for from the state general fund.