San Francisco, CA Board of Education In Support of Adequate Education Funding

Type: Resolution
Status: Adopted on 5/28/02
Source File: http://portal.sfusd.edu/data/board/pdf/memberreso/PRISON_SUBSTITUTE.pdf
Text:
Resolution No. 25-14A6
In Support of Adequate Education Funding and Opposition to the Construction of Another California Prison
Whereas: California faces a budget shortfall of 23.6 billion and the Governor has proposed
cutting $843.5 million from our schools, but only $6 million from the state’s bloated
$4.6 billion prison budget; and
Whereas: In order for the San Francisco Unified School District to meaningfully close the racial
and economic achievement and opportunity gaps and achieve academic excellence
for all its students, adequate funding and services are required; and
Whereas: The specific statewide budget cuts are concentrated in programs which serve the
State’s most vulnerable children; and
Whereas: With per capita crime rates at their lowest level since 1964, California's prison
population dropped an average of 725 prisoners per month during the last six
months of 2001, while Corrections' (CDC) most recent Population Projections forecast 25,000
fewer prisoners than CDC estimated just one year earlier; and
Whereas: A study by the Justice Policy Institute concluded that "the state should immediately
suspend plans to construct the [Delano] prison and utilize the $335 million for debt
reduction or maintenance of other state services;” and
Whereas: The Governor has ordered a hiring freeze and for all state agencies to prepare for
15% budget cuts, and CDC plans to close part or all of one prison due to empty
beds; and
Whereas: Despite the declining prison population, empty beds and the budget crisis, the
Governor's 2002-03 budget allocates funding toward construction, planning and
activation of Delano II; and
Whereas: Construction costs for Delano II are $43.5 million from the General Fund and $311.5
million through lease-purchase arrangements; operating costs could reach $100
million per year, and this funding could be spent more productively on K-12 and higher
education, and other programs like the Healthy Start Program, the Healthy Family Program, the
Environmental Justice Initiative and Worker Safety Programs; and
Whereas: In an April Education Week poll, American voters continue to list education
and school funding among their top priorities, despite their concerns
about national security and the economy; and
Whereas: A recent statewide Field Poll found that Californians favor cutting the state's prison
budget more than any other state program to balance the budget, and many states
are closing prisons, cutting back on expansion, and moving to alternatives; Republican
governors in Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Florida, Kansas and Utah are all closing prisons and even
President Bush has proposed cutting the Federal Bureau of Prisons' construction budget in half
from 2002; and
Whereas: Delano II will do nothing to improve the lives of the people of Delano; since the
opening of the Delano I prison, the city's unemployment rate has increased, local
businesses are suffering and the city's finances are dismal, meanwhile corrections projects that
only 72 of the 1600 jobs slated to be created by Delano II will go to residents of Delano while
the prison will remove farmland from production, further reducing employment prospects for
Delano residents; and
Whereas: Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) options to address the budget crisis could free
over 20,000 prison beds and save $373.5 million and the additional reduction of
California's already declining prison population offered by the LAO further supports cancellation
of the Delano II prison, saving another $595 million with debt service.
Therefore Be It Resolved: That the San Francisco Board of Education condemns the
construction of another California state prison in Delano and any
other prison site; and
Be It Further Resolved: That the Board of Education will write a letter on behalf of the San
Francisco Unified School District to the Governor and all members of
the Assembly and Senate requesting adequate funding for our schools and demanding the state
legislature cancel plans to construct the Delano II prison, or at a minimum, place a one year
moratorium on construction during which the Legislature can address the budget crisis and
assess the full impact of the drop in the State's crime rate and prison population; and
Further Be It Resolved: That District staff issue an immediate press release, including a
copy of this resolution, to our full media list and to the 20 largest
school districts in the State.
Category:California
Category:City-County Governments
Category:Education
Category:Resolutions
Category:San Francisco