Walters falters on schools statistics

Dan Walters (column, Feb. 20) opines that California voters are ignorant because they believe prisons receive a greater piece of the budget pie than public schools. In his attempt to educate the public, Mr. Walters points out that our schools actually receive significantly more revenue than does the Department of Corrections.

Perhaps residents of California are more intelligent than Mr. Walters would imagine. They might have been smart enough to look at the funding on a per-person basis. California has 27 times more students in our public schools than we do inmates. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, California spends $64,000 per year on an inmate in our prisons while spending less than $15,000 a student per year in our public schools.

The facts are that California spends significantly less money per pupil than other states. Gov. Brown has attempted to close that gap. Why would Mr. Walters write a column filled with half truths? Now that is a question worth asking.

This story was originally published February 23, 2017 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Walters falters on schools statistics."