Bond Explosion: 16 Reasons Why California Is The Next Greece

11-18-2010 • BusinessInsider.com/

In 23 years, California erected 23 prisons and ONLY ONE university To get a handle on the damage California’s current approach to incarceration is having on its citizens, consider this: In a recent 23-year period, California erected 23 prisons — one a year, each costing roughly $100 million dollars annually to operate, with both Democratic and Republican governors occupying the statehouse — at the same time that it added just one campus to its vaunted university system, UC Merced. California has fallen from #1 in per-pupil spending to #48 Source: BeyondChron Since the late 1970s, California has fallen from first in the nation in per-pupil spending, nearly to the bottom at number 48. With California’s annual budget falling from $103 billion three years ago to $80 billion currently during what’s often called the Great Recession, schools — including the world class University of California system — continue to face deep cuts in funding, fewer teaching positions, and a reduced ability to educate students.