Californians United for a Responsible Budget

Without a ribbon-cutting ceremony, inspiring speeches or champagne toasts,
today marks one of the most controversial opening days for any state project
in the last 25 years. Today, the notorious Delano II prison, a $750 million
gift from the state to the prison guards' union, will open.

As California unwraps its 33rd state prison -- what the Los Angeles Times
called perhaps "the most controversial prison project in California history"
-- we are simultaneously being forced to close schools, libraries and
hospitals. Where are our priorities?

Several statewide polls of likely voters have all found the same thing:
Californians consistently identify prison spending as the budget item they
most want cut in this time of crisis.

Other states nationwide have decided to close prisons. But in California --
where we imprison more people than any other state except Texas, according
to the federal Bureau of Justice statistics -- the Department of Corrections
will spend an additional $100 million per year, every year, to operate a new
prison that Californians don't need, can't afford and don't want.

Meanwhile, Education Week ranked California 44th in the nation in per- pupil
spending -- more than $600 per student below the national average. Study
after study shows that investing in education pays huge dividends over
paying to imprison. So why do our schools suffer billions in underfunding,
while prison spending swells to rival the percentage of our state budget
spent on higher education?

Underfunding education means schools are closing, class sizes are
increasing, teachers and support staff are being laid off, basic supplies
and books are lacking, extracurricular activities are no longer affordable
and after-school programs have been drastically reduced.

According to California State University's own survey, undergraduate fees at
the system's campuses have increased 76 percent in three years, and graduate
fees for programs such as teacher education, social work and nursing have
more than doubled. But, rather than hiring more teachers, buying new books
or reinstituting music and art programs, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposes
hiring 1,575 new prison employees. The bulk of these employees will be
guards at Delano II.

Last year, public schools sacrificed $2 billion based on the governor's
promise to avoid future cuts. Now, the governor has famously broken that
promise. Since being elected by blasting Gov. Gray Davis' disastrous
policies -- of which Delano II stands as a prime example -- Schwarzenegger
promised real change. Instead, he has taken $2 billion from schools and done
little more than change the name of the Department of Corrections to the
"Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation" while at the same time
reducing rehabilitation funding. San Francisco's four school closures and
Oakland's potential 12 closures are among the costs of the governor's drive
to lock people up. Our education budget gaps ($69 million in San Francisco
for example) are, in a sense, the result of paying the bills to operate
Delano II for the next 8 1/2 months.

A real vision for California's future would include:

-- Immediate moratoriums on education funding cuts, fee increases for higher
education, and prison expansion and construction.

-- Full implementation of the New Parole Model to reduce parole violations
and offer means for re-entry into society. According to the Department of
Corrections' own estimates, this would reduce the prison population by at
least 15,000 people.

-- Taking advantage of that population reduction to close five prisons, as
outlined by Californians United for a Responsible Budget, would create a
direct savings of more than $500 million a year. Schwarzenegger, in his
2004- 05 budget, recognized that closing prisons is the most effective way
to cut prison costs. The resulting savings could then be returned directly
to the education and social service budgets that truly make Californians
healthy and safe.

Delano II must be the last prison foisted upon our future.

Eric Mar is president of the San Francisco School Board and a teacher at San
Francisco State University. Dawn Ligaya Williams is a teacher at East
Oakland Community High School. Both are commissioners appointed by
Californians United for a Responsible Budget, a statewide coalition
committed to reducing the prison population and closing state prisons.