This article is a
condensed version of a research paper by the Justice Policy Institute. The original can be found on the CJCJ web site at www.cjcj.org/jpi/classdis.html."A 1993 report to Congress said that the more education inmates have, the
less likely they are to return to drugs and crime after being released. The study also found that intense literacy programs cut the recidivism rate among juveniles by an estimated 20 percent." - Sacramento Bee, "Prisons
teaching literacy to young inmates" November 9, 1998
"Let the system settle down,…stop the growth. Get back tot he basics of running the system, not just adding these 3,000 beds, those 5,000 beds, another 7,000 beds." -
former Corrections Director James Gomez testifying at the Corcoran prison hearings.
"Unless we get other areas of state government under control, and stop throwing money at problems, we are going to sacrifice educational
opportunities." - Joni Finney, associate director of the California Higher Education Policy Center.
Education has been a topic of interest during this year's gubernatorial election. The 1998-1999 budget includes
significant funding increases for higher education. This increase represents a step in the right direction. Over the past decade, higher education has steadily decreased as a portion of the general fund. By
contrast, the state has seen corrections rise at a greater rate than any of the other five major budget categories in the general fund.
Since 1990, the inmate population has increased substantially despite declining crime rates.
- In the last ten years, Corrections increased 60% while higher education decreased by 3% in actual appropriations.
- In this same period, 21 new prisons have been built, while only one California State University (CSU) campus has been built.
- It currently costs approximately $22,000 to imprison one inmate for a year, while the annual average tuition fee for a University of California (UC) institution is $4,022 and $1,868 for California State University (CSU)
system. Approximately 5 students could attend the University of California or 12 students could attend the California State University system for the cost of housing one inmate.
- It will cost a minimum of $467,500 to incarcerate an inmate convicted under California's "Three-Strikes" law at 21.75 years (85% of the min. sentence). Approximately 116 students could attend a UC campus or 250
students could attend a CSU for that same amount.
- The current population of California inmates serving life under "Three-Strikes" costs $95 million for one year. The state could send 23,893 students to UC or 50,878 to CSU for that same amount.
- Instructor's at state universities make on average between $32,000 and $37,000 per year, while prison guard salaries have more than doubled to $46,200.
The tradeoff between prisons and universities is an important analytical subject for a variety of reasons. Prisons and universities generally occupy the portion of a state's budget that is neither mandated by federal
requirements nor driven by population - like Medicare or K - 12 education. Because they dominate a state's discretionary funds, prisons and universities must "fight it out" for the non-mandated portion of the state's budget.
Perhaps more importantly, however, prisons and universities have the same "target audience" - young adults. As such, the fiscal tradeoffs between these two departments can serve as a barometer of sorts, helping to gauge a
state's hope for its future. Californians need to decide what path their youth are being lead down-and whether it is leading to ivory towers, or limestone walls.
Disproportionate Representation in Schools and Prisons for Minorities
For all families, of any race, the cost of sending someone to the University of California has increased. For a white family, the cost of sending a
child to UC rose to 8.7% of their median income-a significant rise from 5% from a decade ago. For African-American families, today, sending a child to the UC system would represent 14 percent of the black median family
income-almost double the percentage it was a decade ago. For Latinos, the cost of sending a child to UC consumes twice the portion of median family income (15%) as it did in 1989 (7.4%).
Between 1990 and 1997,
African-American male enrollment in CSU and UC systems decreased from 8974 to 8767 full-time students. During that same period of time, the total number of incarcerated black males increased from 32,145 to 44,617. The
difference reveals that for every African-American male subtracted from a UC or CSU, 57 were added to a state correctional facility. The ratio of imprisoned African-American males to those in state universities is currently 5
to 1.
As the Latino population grew from 26% to 28% in the last eight years, the Latino male population grew from 11% to 17% in public universities and from 31% to 35% in the CDC. Put another way, 3 Latino males
were added to the prison population for every one added to California's four year public universities. Compared to their overall representation in California, Latino males are underrepresented in our public universities and
over-represented in our prisons. African-American males and Latino males have a much greater likelihood of entering a prison cell rather than a college or university classroom.
The Justice Policy Institute
is a policy development and research body that promotes effective and sensible approaches to America's justice system. JPI is a project of the non-profit Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. For more
information, contact CJCJ, 2208 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave, SE, Washington, DC 20020 or contact the San Francisco office at 1622 Folsom St., San Francisco, CA 94103. Phone 415-621-5661 or e-mailed at kte@cjcj.org.
