Schwarzenegger Seeks Shift From Prisons to Schools
Governor Schwarzenegger wants to shift California's money out of prisons and into schools, a move that could thrill those concerned with social justice. California spends $10.6 billion a year on its 33 prisons and 12 community correctional facilities. 30 years ago, 10 percent of the general fund went to higher education, and 3 percent to prisons. Now, 11 percent goes to prisons, and just 7.5 percent to higher education. Unfortunately, he wants to accomplish this liberal goal in a conservative way - by privatizing prisons. The system would be better served by releasing low-level offenders. The state's prison system is vastly overcrowded, and a panel of federal judges gave it two years to reduce its current number of 170,000 inmates to 130,000. But the governor has refused to allow prisoners to be released early, and the correction officers union is not cooperating.
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