Excerpt:
California Prison Teachers Protest Layoffs
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Chowchilla, California (KFSN) -- The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is planning to cut between 600 and 900 prison staff members across the state to deal with a more than one billion dollar budget deficit.
But employees at the two prisons in Chowchilla say the proposed lay-offs come with too high of a price for the public.
Dozens of staff members from the two women's prisons in Chowchilla rallied outside the gates of the Central California Women's Facility in hopes of sending a message to the community.
John Plain said, "The state of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to severely cut the number of teachers who work in prisons and that will severely impact public safety, and we want them to know what's coming."
Many of the protestors are teachers or vocational instructors. They say their classes and programs help prepare the women serving time inside these walls to be contributing members of society once their sentences are complete. They teach everything from reading and math to carpentry and landscaping. Catherina Fowler said, "We also teach life skills which is important. We teach people how to balance a checkbook, how to read a contract, how to apply for a job."
The teachers say without those skills, the women are more likely to commit crimes and end up back in prison. But prison officials say the state budget has left them with no choice but to scale back the programs.
Bart Fortner said, "We're looking at anywhere from 30 to 50 percent cut in staffing in our education and vocation programs."
Spokesman Bart Fornter says CCWF and the other state prisons will try to minimize the impact of those cuts by giving help first to the inmates who are closest to being released. There are also plans to use teachers aides instead of certified teachers ... and to train inmates to mentor each other. But the protestors say those substitutes won't be the same. And it will still leave them out in the cold.
Barbara Greninger said, "We are about to join one of the largest unemployment lines there is."
The protestors say the programs also save taxpayers money by keeping released inmates from returning to prison. They're asking residents to contact their legislators and demand they prevent the lay-offs.
Meanwhile, officials here at cCWF say they're still waiting on word on exactly how many positions will be cut.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Summer_(Brooks_%26_Dunn_song)
Excerpt:
Music video
The video was released on July 24, 2009 on Country Music Television. It was directed by Shaun Silva. It was filmed in Chowchilla California, in the local high school, home of the Chowchilla Union High School Redskins.[2] The video was voted in #49 On GAC's Top 50 Videos of the Year list.
Indian Summer Brooks & Dunn (this video is about my high school alma mater and Chowchilla, Ca high school football teams) ...cal
http://www.topcountrymusicvideos.com/brooks-dunn-indian-summer/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chowchilla,_California
Excerpts:
1) The city is the location of two California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation women's facilities, the Central California Women's Facility and Valley State Prison for Women.
2) 1976 bus kidnapping
Chowchilla was launched into national headlines on July 15, 1976 when an entire school bus of children was kidnapped. Twenty-six children and the adult bus driver were taken from the bus, which the kidnappers concealed in a drainage slough, and driven around in two vans for 11 hours before being forced, one by one, to climb into a hole in the ground. After passing through the hole the children and their driver found themselves trapped in the interior of a buried moving van. Although they did not know it, their place of confinement was in a quarry located in Livermore, California.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,914434,00.html
Excerpt:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/chowchilla_kidnap/3.html
Excerpt:
They worked on cars and talked about movies with a friend of theirs who wanted to strike it rich as a Hollywood screenwriter. Films featuring crime and action and car chases, such as "Dirty Harry" and "The French Connection" had been blockbusters in the recent past, and discussion of those movies led to musings on "perfect" crimes and whether or not one could be committed.
Exactly when these theoretical discussions crossed into the realm of actual planning is a gray area. Jim told the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper in July of 2001 that in their early 20s they believed their parents were disappointed in their sons and that the money they had was being spent quicker than it was coming in. Maybe they felt they would rather do anything other than ask their families for yet more financial support.
Initially the idea of holding hostages for ransom was a pipe dream of easy money — Jim thought for a long time it was all some kind of imaginary game. "We never went through with anything, so this wasn't going to be any different," he told The Chronicle. But time passed, the plans snowballed and became more elaborate and concrete, and there came a time when it "got to the point where we had to do it," Jim explained.
When the day arrived that he stood in the middle of the deserted Chowchilla road, Jim told The Chronicle, "I said to myself as soon as the bus stopped: ‘What have I got myself into?' Then you rationalize. You see them and you rationalize all your...problems will be over in 24 hours."
Jack W. Baugh (an investigator of the case) and Jefferson Morgan, whose 1978 book "Why Have They Taken Our Children - Chowchilla, July 15, 1976" was an examination of the crime and its aftermath, believe that for a long time Jim and Rick considered the planned crime "a mental exercise," but Fred wanted to see if it could actually be done.
The plan, developed over months, was simple: hijack a school bus, hide the children somewhere safe, demand a sizable ransom from the state, pick up the money, and then release the hostages unharmed — all within 24 hours.
As had countless others before them, the trio would discover that the unexpected will happen, regardless of the amount of planning.
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=10614
Excerpt:
Klinge said the panel also was troubled that Woods is still trying to minimize his role in the crime, claiming that it was mainly planned by the Schoenfeld brothers.
She said Woods and the Schoenfeld brothers see each other every day because they are all being held at the California Men's Colony, where the Schoenfeld brothers are cellmates.
Dozens of staff members from the two women's prisons in Chowchilla rallied outside the gates of the Central California Women's Facility in hopes of sending a message to the community.
John Plain said, "The state of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to severely cut the number of teachers who work in prisons and that will severely impact public safety, and we want them to know what's coming."
Many of the protestors are teachers or vocational instructors. They say their classes and programs help prepare the women serving time inside these walls to be contributing members of society once their sentences are complete. They teach everything from reading and math to carpentry and landscaping. Catherina Fowler said, "We also teach life skills which is important. We teach people how to balance a checkbook, how to read a contract, how to apply for a job."
The teachers say without those skills, the women are more likely to commit crimes and end up back in prison. But prison officials say the state budget has left them with no choice but to scale back the programs.
Bart Fortner said, "We're looking at anywhere from 30 to 50 percent cut in staffing in our education and vocation programs."
Spokesman Bart Fornter says CCWF and the other state prisons will try to minimize the impact of those cuts by giving help first to the inmates who are closest to being released. There are also plans to use teachers aides instead of certified teachers ... and to train inmates to mentor each other. But the protestors say those substitutes won't be the same. And it will still leave them out in the cold.
Barbara Greninger said, "We are about to join one of the largest unemployment lines there is."
The protestors say the programs also save taxpayers money by keeping released inmates from returning to prison. They're asking residents to contact their legislators and demand they prevent the lay-offs.
Meanwhile, officials here at cCWF say they're still waiting on word on exactly how many positions will be cut.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Summer_(Brooks_%26_Dunn_song)
Excerpt:
Music video
The video was released on July 24, 2009 on Country Music Television. It was directed by Shaun Silva. It was filmed in Chowchilla California, in the local high school, home of the Chowchilla Union High School Redskins.[2] The video was voted in #49 On GAC's Top 50 Videos of the Year list.
Indian Summer Brooks & Dunn (this video is about my high school alma mater and Chowchilla, Ca high school football teams) ...cal
http://www.topcountrymusicvideos.com/brooks-dunn-indian-summer/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chowchilla,_California
Excerpts:
1) The city is the location of two California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation women's facilities, the Central California Women's Facility and Valley State Prison for Women.
2) 1976 bus kidnapping
Chowchilla was launched into national headlines on July 15, 1976 when an entire school bus of children was kidnapped. Twenty-six children and the adult bus driver were taken from the bus, which the kidnappers concealed in a drainage slough, and driven around in two vans for 11 hours before being forced, one by one, to climb into a hole in the ground. After passing through the hole the children and their driver found themselves trapped in the interior of a buried moving van. Although they did not know it, their place of confinement was in a quarry located in Livermore, California.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,914434,00.html
Excerpt:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/chowchilla_kidnap/3.html
Excerpt:
The Chowchilla Kidnapping
Men Behind The Masks
By and large, brothers Rick and Jim Schoenfeld and their friend Fred Woods were the epitome of post-high school young men from privileged backgrounds living in the wealthier towns along the San Francisco peninsula during the 1970s. Rick and Jim's father was a podiatrist and Fred's father owned and managed many businesses, including a rock quarry in Livermore. All three young men were in their early to mid 20s, living with their parents in spacious houses, made halfhearted attempts at various businesses, and dreamed big.They worked on cars and talked about movies with a friend of theirs who wanted to strike it rich as a Hollywood screenwriter. Films featuring crime and action and car chases, such as "Dirty Harry" and "The French Connection" had been blockbusters in the recent past, and discussion of those movies led to musings on "perfect" crimes and whether or not one could be committed.
Exactly when these theoretical discussions crossed into the realm of actual planning is a gray area. Jim told the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper in July of 2001 that in their early 20s they believed their parents were disappointed in their sons and that the money they had was being spent quicker than it was coming in. Maybe they felt they would rather do anything other than ask their families for yet more financial support.
Initially the idea of holding hostages for ransom was a pipe dream of easy money — Jim thought for a long time it was all some kind of imaginary game. "We never went through with anything, so this wasn't going to be any different," he told The Chronicle. But time passed, the plans snowballed and became more elaborate and concrete, and there came a time when it "got to the point where we had to do it," Jim explained.
When the day arrived that he stood in the middle of the deserted Chowchilla road, Jim told The Chronicle, "I said to myself as soon as the bus stopped: ‘What have I got myself into?' Then you rationalize. You see them and you rationalize all your...problems will be over in 24 hours."
Jack W. Baugh (an investigator of the case) and Jefferson Morgan, whose 1978 book "Why Have They Taken Our Children - Chowchilla, July 15, 1976" was an examination of the crime and its aftermath, believe that for a long time Jim and Rick considered the planned crime "a mental exercise," but Fred wanted to see if it could actually be done.
The plan, developed over months, was simple: hijack a school bus, hide the children somewhere safe, demand a sizable ransom from the state, pick up the money, and then release the hostages unharmed — all within 24 hours.
As had countless others before them, the trio would discover that the unexpected will happen, regardless of the amount of planning.
Book Cover: Why Have They Taken Our Children
Richard "Rick" Schoenfeld
James Schoenfeld
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=10614
Excerpt:
Klinge said the panel also was troubled that Woods is still trying to minimize his role in the crime, claiming that it was mainly planned by the Schoenfeld brothers.
She said Woods and the Schoenfeld brothers see each other every day because they are all being held at the California Men's Colony, where the Schoenfeld brothers are cellmates.
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