Deal With Guards Robs Funds From the Schools

Re “Deal Gives Guards Millions in Benefits,” July 13: As a 25-year teaching veteran who has not seen a raise in two years and has seen our classroom budgets slashed by up to 80%, I was heartened to see that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ceded powers to the prison guards union that will result in millions in perks and benefits in the coming years. If we continue to underfund and cut education spending, prison will be the destination for thousands of our former students, and we will need more and more prison guards.

Why not stop the hypocrisy and just say that prison, not education, is our top priority?

Gary E. Murphy

Simi Valley

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Schwarzenegger signed the ballot statement in opposition to Proposition 66, which would change the three-strikes law so that it would apply only to dangerous criminals. Then he “negotiates” an unprecedented giveaway to the malevolent prison guards union, which includes a guarantee against layoffs unless the prison population falls by 6%. Which of course it won’t if Prop. 66 is defeated.

Makes sense to me. After all, why should we spend money on schools or healthcare when we can have the privilege of supporting the prison guards by continuing to warehouse minor offenders for the rest of their lives in prison squalor?

Jeff Friedman

Tustin