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Cellblocks vs. Classrooms: A new study shows states have increased spending faster on prisons than education
WASHINGTON -- Percentage increases in spending for Texas prisons has far outstripped state spending hikes for higher education since the mid-1980s, according to a report released Wednesday. The study, by the Justice Policy Institute, a Washington advocacy group, also showed Texas now has more black men in state prisons than in state colleges and universities. Texas was not alone in seeing its spending on prisons rise along a steep curve in the past decade and a half, while money set aside for higher education rose much more slowly, according to the study. Since 1985, the increase in money spent on prisons nationwide topped $20 billion. That is almost twice the increase in dollars spent on colleges and universities, according to the report titled "Cellblocks or Classrooms." "This report underlines the sad reality that the nation's colleges and universities have lost budget battles to the growing prison system," said Vincent Schiraldi, president of JPI and a co-author of the study. That premise is starkly supported by figures the group gleaned from state budgetary reports for Texas. The study found that in 2000 there were about 66,300 African-American men in state prisons, and only 40,872 in state colleges. In the past 20 years, the rate of increase in the black male prison population as been four times higher than the increasein black male college students. In 1986, Texas spent about $3.1 billion from its general fund on state colleges and universities. That year, $590 million was spent on corrections, or less than one dollar for every five spent on higher education, the JPI study found. By 2000, spending on higher education grew to $4.5 billion. Meanwhile, the state's budget for prisons had risen to $2.7 billion. In that period, the amount spent on colleges and universities grew by 47 percent, compared with a 346 percent increase on corrections. "There is no doubt that criminal justice has been the fastest growing part of the state (Texas) budget, because of concerns about public safety," said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, vice chairman of the criminal justice committee. He said Texas politicians know the issue of being tough on crime resonates with voters. "We have a shortage right now of 40,000 schoolteachers, and 2,500 prison guards, and more is said about filling the guard positions," he said. "Being safe is basic." Whitmire said he believed the Texas Legislature needed to evaluate the way it allocated dollars to criminal justice and education. "We have to fight the crime issue by being tough and smart. No one questions that we are being tough enough. We may be coming up short on how smart we have been," he said. A Justice Department study released Monday showed Texas had more adults in its jails and state corrections system than any other state -- 755,100. California was second with 704,900.

posted by West 6:29 PM