California prison guards out earning college professors

A recent study found that over the last 30 years prison guards in California are, on average, out earning college professors, according to NBC Bay Area.

California spent $592 million on corrections in 1980. That spending has jumped to $9.2 billion in 2011. The state is is spending 1,370 percent more money on prisons today compared to to 30 years ago.
Meanwhile, higher education spending has decreased.  The study by California Common Sense (CACS) found that there is a trend to pay University of California and California State University faculty less money than in the past.

“What we found is faculty salaries have decreased about 10 percent since 1990,” researcher Mike Polyakov NBC.

At the same time, Polyakov said prison guard salaries reached a record high in 2006.

CACS researchers found that correctional officers are still making anywhere from 50 to 90 percent above market rate compared to the rest of the country, reported NBC.

To read more: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/politics/Prison-Spending-Affecting-Higher-Education-in-California-Report-168756096.html