More $ on prisons than higher ed - CA

["Monty Neill" <monty@fairtest.org>]

From PEN newsblast 

PRISON VS. EDUCATION SPENDING REVEALS CALIFORNIA'S PRIORITIES
It has been said that a government's budget isn't only a statement of priorities, but also a reflection of a society's values. California's proposed budget reveals skewed priorities and hollow values. For the first time, and unique among large states, California will soon spend more on its prisons than on its public universities. It has been projected that over the next five years, the state's budget for locking up people will rise by nine percent annually, compared with its spending on higher education, which will rise only by five percent. By the 2012-2013 fiscal year, writes Maya Harris in the San Francisco Chronicle, $15.4 billion will be spent on incarcerating Californians, as compared with $15.3 billion spent on educating the state's citizens. More prison spending will mean better pay for the highest paid, most politically influential prison personnel in the nation, as well as more prisons, but no one is certain it will result in a better corrections system. However, th
 ere's no uncertainty about the benefits that flow from investing in education. Nothing predicts future success better than a good education, and nothing guarantees failure more than the lack of one. The correlation between the lack of educational opportunities and imprisonment could not be more direct. We not only continue to feed the prison system at the expense of funding education, we've also blurred the lines separating the educational and criminal justice systems, creating a school-to-prison pipeline with a predictable and steady flow. Police have become an increasing presence in our public elementary, middle and high schools. Schools are spending millions of dollars to hire their own police forces or contracting with local authorities. Kids are routinely searched before being allowed into the building, under surveillance by video cameras in hallways and subjected to random searches of their backpacks and lockers.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/29/EDGGTP3F291.DTL
Monty Neill, Ed.D.
Co-Executive Director
FairTest
342 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-864-4810    fax 617-497-2224
monty@fairtest.org
http://www.fairtest.org
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