REAL STORY ON PRISONS

In his Nov. 13 Valley Voices column, Eluterio Escamilla made several
misstatements about the state prison system. Everyone is entitled to their
own opinion, but not at the cost of promulgating erroneous information.

First, 40% of this year's state budget did not go to the prison system. In
fact, a little less than 8% of the general fund expenditures in this year's
budget went to the Department of Corrections. Eight percent of the budget
to run 33 prisons, 38 camps (where inmates are trained as wildland
firefighters), 16 community correctional facilities and 136 parole offices
in 70 locations throughout the state. The Department of Corrections employs
more than 45,000 Californians with that 8% of the budget. Its primary
responsibility is to oversee more than 160,000 inmates and nearly 114,000
parolees.

Mr. Escamilla also implied that "major corporations" provide food, clothing
and shelter to prison inmates. That simply is not true. Inmates make their
own clothing; they make their own shoes and jackets. They build the
furniture they sit on and the bunks they sleep in. They cook their own food
and bake their own bread.

One of Gov. Davis' major programs this year is the READ Initiative (Raising
Expectations, Achievement and Development in schools) aimed at improving
our student's academic achievements by setting high expectations and then
rewarding the results. Giving all of California's children a better
education improves their sense of self-worth and provides them with a
better opportunity to succeed. That is one of the best way to break the
cycle of poverty, and on that I think we can also agree.

Robert Presley, Agency Secretary, Youth and Adult Correctional Agency,
Sacramento