San Francisco Chronicle: 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 9 percent annually, compared with its spending on higher education, which will rise only by 5 percent. By the 2012-2013 fiscal year, $15.4 billion will be spent on incarcerating Californians, as compared with $15.3 billion spent on educating them. Yet, despite this historic increase in prison funding, leading legislators — including supporters of the increase — and even Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office agree that this is simply throwing good money after bad, given the rank mismanagement plaguing California’s corrections system.
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