FACT SHEET:

Argument:
California has a higher budget on prisons than on education due to prison overpopulation.

URLs for sources:
1)http://edsource.org/2013/california-drops-to-49th-in-school-spending-in-annual-ed-week-
report-2/63654
2)http://money.cnn.com/infographic/economy/education-vs-prison-costs/
3)http://www.vera.org/files/price-of-prisons-california-fact-sheet.pdf
4)http://www.lao.ca.gov/PolicyAreas/CJ/FAQs
5)http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/13/wonkbook-11-facts-about-
americas-prison-population/
6)http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2012/05/24/how-high-prison-
costs-slash-education-and-hurt-the-economy
7)http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/30/zakaria-incarceration-nation-2/

General Overview:
I believe that the state of California funds its prisons more than its educational programs due to
overpopulation in the state prisons. The justice system in California is giving longer mandatory
minimum sentences to people for the smallest convictions, causing the state to increase its
budget on prisons meanwhile decreasing by 13.9% since 1980.

Quick facts:
1- The average inmate in minimum-security federal prison costs $21,000 each year. The
average inmate in maximum-security federal prisons costs $33,000 each year.( The Washington
Post, Wonkbook, by Ezra Klein )

2-The total cost of Californias prisonsto incarcerate an average daily population of
167,276was therefore $7.9 billion (Vera Institute of Justice, The price of Prisons)

3-The average annual cost per inmate in California is $47,421 ( Vera Institute of Justice,The
price of Prisons)

4- The California Department of corrections and rehabilitation (CDCR) prison budget is 7
billion dollars per year ( Vera Institute of Justice, The price of Prisons)

5- The total state cost of prison exceeds the budget by 12.9 % at 7.9 billion dollars per year (
Vera Institute of Justice, The price of Prisons)

6-Since 1980, higher education spending has decreased by 13 percent in inflation adjusted
dollars, whereas spending on California's prisons and associated correctional programs has
skyrocketed
by 436 percent.(California commen sense)

7-Higher Prison Costs Lead to Higher Tuitions and Fewer Graduates(usanews.com, David
brodmin)

8-Californias per-student spending of $8,482 was $3,342 28 percent below the national
average of $11,824.(school finance, Edsource.org)

9-Rachel Ehlers, in the education unit at the Legislative Analysts Office confirmed that K-12
education gets roughly 41.4 percent of state expenditures

10-"CNNs Fareed Zakaria took on the issue of criminal justice reform on his show, Fareed
Zakaria GPS, this weekend, highlighting that 760 of every 100,000 Americans is incarcerated,
more than seven times the incarceration rates for most European countries. Those high
incarceration rates have forced states across the country to spend more on prisons than they do
on education".(CNN WORLD)

11-The state spends $8,667 per student, per year compared to roughly $50,000 per inmate, per
year( CNN WORLD)

12-The biggest driving factor in the federal prison population increase is longer mandatory
minimum sentences for drug offenders(Ezra Klein, wonkbook)

Possible solutions:
http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/progressive-solutions-californias-economic-crisis

Works Cited:
1. Fensertwald, John.California drops 49th in school spending in annual Ed week report.14
January.2013.EdSource.10 September 2014.
http://edsource.org/2013/california-drops-to-49th-in-school-spending-in-annual-ed-week-report-
2/63654

2.Tall,Yellen.Education vs prison costs.CNN.10 September
2014.http://money.cnn.com/infographic/economy/education-vs-prison-costs/

3.The price of prisons/California.January.2012.VERA.September 10
2014.)http://www.vera.org/files/price-of-prisons-california-fact-sheet.pdf

4.Criminal Justice.LAO.10 September 2014.http://www.lao.ca.gov/PolicyAreas/CJ/FAQs

5.Klein,Ezra.Wonkbook: 11 facrs about Americas prison population. 13 August
2013.Washington
Post. 10 September
2014.)http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/13/wonkbook-11-
facts-about-americas-prison-population/

6.Browdwin,David. How high prison costs slash education and hurt the economy. 24 May
2012.
USN.September 10
2014.http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2012/05/24/how-
high-priso
n-costs-slash-education-and-hurt-the-economy

7. Zakaira,Fareed.Incarcenation nation. 30 March 2012.CNN.10 September
2014.http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/30/zakaria-incarceration-nation-2/