Hard Lessons

Re “Wrong Time for New Prison,” editorial, June 7:

It’s a shame we can’t magically transform our state’s surplus of 10,000 prison beds into desks for students in our overcrowded, underfunded public schools. While the California Department of Corrections overspent its budget by $277 million this year, the Los Angeles Unified School District faces potentially devastating budget cuts.

The hundreds of millions earmarked for a new prison in Delano would buy a lot of books.

Chris Henrikson

Director, DreamYard/L.A.

Los Angeles