Prison Spending Bleeds Education System

Prison spending bleeds education system

This article is about the problem of over-incarceration of society and reduced car for higher education. Cities are focusing on prisons which are causing extreme overcrowding. The real question is why all these non-violent prisoners are being held in large facilities with the real dangerous inmates. Officials say these non-violent prisoners should be taken out and put into county jails. This will help close down these large expensive facilities and put more money into the hands of education. Serious problems come with over-incarceration. Many say that unneeded drug addicts are thrown into the jail cell. These addicts should be helped in order to stay out of jail. They should be rewarded when they face their addiction in order to keep less people in jail. When it comes to the problem of drugs, according to the article many view it as discriminatory. "African Americans are imprisoned for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of their white counterparts." The article states that if more money was put into treatment programs, then this issue can be eliminated. Instead of mandatory minimum sentences for the drug offenders, help them get clean. These sentences have been proven ineffective.

Also, if more money is invested into higher education, offenders can have a chance to get their GED. The main point of this article explains the problem of over-imprisonment and what can be done in order to slow it down. Too much money is used for prison facilities rather than education. If money is used for education and helping the problem of crime to be solved in large cities, then more people will stay out of jail in the first place. The article says the lowest education is in the cities with the highest incarceration. "In one striking example, New York City spends $16.6 million each year to incarcerate residents from the 11216 ZIP code. Residents of 11216 suffer from a 53% unemployment rate and the local high school has a 50% graduation rate." The article stresses this problem and indicates it is arising throughout different cities in the country.

This article reflects on some theories we have talked about in class. It is almost similar to re-socializing someone back into society. The prisoners have been surrounded by violence and poverty their whole life. They go to prison but have no way of redeeming their selves. This article indicated that if education is focused on more and if the problem of crime is attacked rather than putting people in jail, people that grow up in these hard cities can be "re-socialized." They can be brought back into a sane society and can better themselves.

I agree with the author of this article. I believe that instead of people being thrown into jail and receiving a minimal sentence, crime should be struck at the roots. With cities over-incarcerating, too many people are being put in jail