Education vs Institution
melodious
Posts: 1,719
If this is a double posted topic, please disregard..Came across this yesterday and have barely bit of time to sit down and read with summer season festives afront of me...
Monday, May 21, 2007 (SF Chronicle)
Prisons' budget poised to trump state colleges'/No other big state spends as
much to incarcerate compared with higher education funding
James Sterngold, Chronicle Staff Writer
As the costs for fixing the state's troubled corrections system rocket
higher, California is headed for a dubious milestone -- for the first time
the state will spend more on incarcerating inmates than on educating
students in its public universities.
Based on current spending trends, California's prison budget will overtake
spending on the state's universities in five years. No other big state in
the country spends close to as much on its prisons compared with
universities.
But California has all but guaranteed that prisons will eat up an
increasingly large share of taxpayer money because of chronic failures in
a system that the state is now planning to expand.
Under a new state law, California will spend $7.4 billion to build 40,000
new prison beds, and that is over and above the current annual operating
budget of more than $10 billion. Interest payments alone on the billions
of dollars of bonds that will be sold to finance the new construction will
amount to $330 million a year by 2011 -- all money that will not be
available for higher education or other state priorities.
"California is just off the charts compared with other states in
corrections spending," said Michael Jacobson, director of the Vera
Institute of Justice in New York, a leading research organization.
"Budgets are a zero-sum game essentially. The money for corrections comes
from other places. The shame of it is that California could have improved
crime rates and a better funded higher education system if they ran things
better."
In fact, even some supporters of the recent prison reform legislation,
AB900, say they harbor deep doubts about the corrections department's
ability to improve things, no matter how much is spent. But they say there
is no choice, and that the result is that Californians are going to have
to accept throwing billions of dollars more at the problem, while trusting
a corrections department that has a history of failure.
"I'm not defending the damn department," said Assemblyman Todd Spitzer,
R-Orange, the chairman of a State Assembly committee overseeing the
state's prison construction efforts. "The department is a shambles. They
couldn't build their way out of a paper bag. Everyone has a reason to be
skeptical. Everyone is holding their breath, hoping that this time they're
successful."
Asked if the prison spending accurately reflected the state's values and
priorities, several politicians insisted it did not, and some suggested it
was something of an embarrassment for a state that in other areas, such as
environmental programs, likes to think of itself as a pioneer in smart
policymaking.
"I'll tell you what, it's clearly not a statement of our priorities," said
Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles. "Our policies are hurting
the economy of California. This is a disservice to our economy."
Núñez blamed the prison spending on a get-tough-on-crime mentality among
politicians that equates more prison spending with safer streets, when
that is hardly the case.
"A budget is a statement of priorities," said Bill Shiebler, president of
the University of California Student Association, which has been fighting
sharp increases in state university tuition fees for several years. "I do
think our state's got its priorities wrong. The governor is burdening
people who work the hardest with what are tax increases. It seems they're
more interested in locking people up than giving people an opportunity in
life."
Michael Genest, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's finance director, said that
he, too, was uncomfortable with the state committing such a large sum to
prisons, but that mismanagement and failed rehabilitation programs in the
past made it unavoidable.
"I don't think it's a good thing," said Genest. "It's unfortunate."
He said that one of the key drivers was the fact that the state pays the
guards and other prison employees far more than any other state, a policy
choice the state had made in past years. In addition, he said, the porous
border allowed too many lawbreakers from Mexico to enter the state, where
they eventually ended up in prison.
But Genest defended the increases in spending as needed to institute
better rehabilitation programs, which would eventually save money,
although he said it was uncertain when or if they would show results.
"It's not going to happen overnight, and no one can say how much it's
going to save," said Genest. "But it should eventually save money."
According to the May revisions of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget, the
state will spend $10 billion on prisons in fiscal 2007-08, a 9 percent
increase from last year.
Higher education spending will come to $12 billion, a nearly 6 percent
increase. Moving forward, the legislative analyst says, spending on higher
education probably will grow around 5 percent a year, while prisons
spending will grow by at least 9 percent annually.
Steve Boilard, a legislative analyst, said that actual spending on the
state university systems is already at about parity with prisons spending.
The budgets, he said, for the University of California, the California
State University and the community colleges come to $10.5 billion in
fiscal 2007-2008. The rest of the higher education budget includes
financial aid for student and other noninstructional programs.
Following the historic growth rates, in fiscal 2012-2013, prisons spending
will come to about $15.4 billion a year while overall higher education
spending will come to $15.3 billion.
Some politicians are calling the new construction spending and new
rehabilitation programs an investment that eventually will pay off in the
form of reduced recidivism. California has among the highest recidivism
rates in the country, with 70 percent of released inmates ending up back
in prison within three years. But even advocates of reform say that payoff
will be long in coming.
"We all have a wish that prison spending would take a smaller percentage
of our budget," said Spitzer. "However, that's a decade away, in my
opinion. For another decade we're going to need large infusions of money
to deal with this and our off-the-chart recidivism rates."
California is alone among big states in spending so much on prisons.
Texas, for instance, will spend $4.5 billion on higher education in 2007
and $2 billion on prisons, according to the National Conference of State
Legislatures. Florida will spend $3.9 billion on its universities and $2.1
billion on prisons, while New York has budgeted $3.5 billion on its
universities and $2.2 billion on prisons.
According to the conference of legislatures, seven small states, such as
Massachusetts, Connecticut and Delaware, spend nearly as much on prisons
as higher education, but most states budget two or even three times as
much for universities.
The new reform program, AB900, includes about 40,000 new prison beds,
about 8,000 of those for medical and mental health care. Currently, there
are about 173,000 inmates in the state prisons, which is about double the
design capacity. The legislative analyst projects that the population will
grow by another 17,000 over the next five years.
Jacobson of the Vera Institute said one of the greatest problems in
California is not just that it spends so much on prisons but that it gets
such poor results. New York state, for instance, is enjoying both a
declining inmate population and declining crime rates.
"When you think about some of the alternatives for spending that kind of
money, there are much better things you can do for public safety that
would be a lot more effective," he said.
Monday, May 21, 2007 (SF Chronicle)
Prisons' budget poised to trump state colleges'/No other big state spends as
much to incarcerate compared with higher education funding
James Sterngold, Chronicle Staff Writer
As the costs for fixing the state's troubled corrections system rocket
higher, California is headed for a dubious milestone -- for the first time
the state will spend more on incarcerating inmates than on educating
students in its public universities.
Based on current spending trends, California's prison budget will overtake
spending on the state's universities in five years. No other big state in
the country spends close to as much on its prisons compared with
universities.
But California has all but guaranteed that prisons will eat up an
increasingly large share of taxpayer money because of chronic failures in
a system that the state is now planning to expand.
Under a new state law, California will spend $7.4 billion to build 40,000
new prison beds, and that is over and above the current annual operating
budget of more than $10 billion. Interest payments alone on the billions
of dollars of bonds that will be sold to finance the new construction will
amount to $330 million a year by 2011 -- all money that will not be
available for higher education or other state priorities.
"California is just off the charts compared with other states in
corrections spending," said Michael Jacobson, director of the Vera
Institute of Justice in New York, a leading research organization.
"Budgets are a zero-sum game essentially. The money for corrections comes
from other places. The shame of it is that California could have improved
crime rates and a better funded higher education system if they ran things
better."
In fact, even some supporters of the recent prison reform legislation,
AB900, say they harbor deep doubts about the corrections department's
ability to improve things, no matter how much is spent. But they say there
is no choice, and that the result is that Californians are going to have
to accept throwing billions of dollars more at the problem, while trusting
a corrections department that has a history of failure.
"I'm not defending the damn department," said Assemblyman Todd Spitzer,
R-Orange, the chairman of a State Assembly committee overseeing the
state's prison construction efforts. "The department is a shambles. They
couldn't build their way out of a paper bag. Everyone has a reason to be
skeptical. Everyone is holding their breath, hoping that this time they're
successful."
Asked if the prison spending accurately reflected the state's values and
priorities, several politicians insisted it did not, and some suggested it
was something of an embarrassment for a state that in other areas, such as
environmental programs, likes to think of itself as a pioneer in smart
policymaking.
"I'll tell you what, it's clearly not a statement of our priorities," said
Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles. "Our policies are hurting
the economy of California. This is a disservice to our economy."
Núñez blamed the prison spending on a get-tough-on-crime mentality among
politicians that equates more prison spending with safer streets, when
that is hardly the case.
"A budget is a statement of priorities," said Bill Shiebler, president of
the University of California Student Association, which has been fighting
sharp increases in state university tuition fees for several years. "I do
think our state's got its priorities wrong. The governor is burdening
people who work the hardest with what are tax increases. It seems they're
more interested in locking people up than giving people an opportunity in
life."
Michael Genest, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's finance director, said that
he, too, was uncomfortable with the state committing such a large sum to
prisons, but that mismanagement and failed rehabilitation programs in the
past made it unavoidable.
"I don't think it's a good thing," said Genest. "It's unfortunate."
He said that one of the key drivers was the fact that the state pays the
guards and other prison employees far more than any other state, a policy
choice the state had made in past years. In addition, he said, the porous
border allowed too many lawbreakers from Mexico to enter the state, where
they eventually ended up in prison.
But Genest defended the increases in spending as needed to institute
better rehabilitation programs, which would eventually save money,
although he said it was uncertain when or if they would show results.
"It's not going to happen overnight, and no one can say how much it's
going to save," said Genest. "But it should eventually save money."
According to the May revisions of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget, the
state will spend $10 billion on prisons in fiscal 2007-08, a 9 percent
increase from last year.
Higher education spending will come to $12 billion, a nearly 6 percent
increase. Moving forward, the legislative analyst says, spending on higher
education probably will grow around 5 percent a year, while prisons
spending will grow by at least 9 percent annually.
Steve Boilard, a legislative analyst, said that actual spending on the
state university systems is already at about parity with prisons spending.
The budgets, he said, for the University of California, the California
State University and the community colleges come to $10.5 billion in
fiscal 2007-2008. The rest of the higher education budget includes
financial aid for student and other noninstructional programs.
Following the historic growth rates, in fiscal 2012-2013, prisons spending
will come to about $15.4 billion a year while overall higher education
spending will come to $15.3 billion.
Some politicians are calling the new construction spending and new
rehabilitation programs an investment that eventually will pay off in the
form of reduced recidivism. California has among the highest recidivism
rates in the country, with 70 percent of released inmates ending up back
in prison within three years. But even advocates of reform say that payoff
will be long in coming.
"We all have a wish that prison spending would take a smaller percentage
of our budget," said Spitzer. "However, that's a decade away, in my
opinion. For another decade we're going to need large infusions of money
to deal with this and our off-the-chart recidivism rates."
California is alone among big states in spending so much on prisons.
Texas, for instance, will spend $4.5 billion on higher education in 2007
and $2 billion on prisons, according to the National Conference of State
Legislatures. Florida will spend $3.9 billion on its universities and $2.1
billion on prisons, while New York has budgeted $3.5 billion on its
universities and $2.2 billion on prisons.
According to the conference of legislatures, seven small states, such as
Massachusetts, Connecticut and Delaware, spend nearly as much on prisons
as higher education, but most states budget two or even three times as
much for universities.
The new reform program, AB900, includes about 40,000 new prison beds,
about 8,000 of those for medical and mental health care. Currently, there
are about 173,000 inmates in the state prisons, which is about double the
design capacity. The legislative analyst projects that the population will
grow by another 17,000 over the next five years.
Jacobson of the Vera Institute said one of the greatest problems in
California is not just that it spends so much on prisons but that it gets
such poor results. New York state, for instance, is enjoying both a
declining inmate population and declining crime rates.
"When you think about some of the alternatives for spending that kind of
money, there are much better things you can do for public safety that
would be a lot more effective," he said.
all insanity:
a derivitive of nature.
nature is god
god is love
love is light
a derivitive of nature.
nature is god
god is love
love is light
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