We are a warring nation. We declare war on anything – War on Terrorism, War on Drugs, War on Poverty, War on Contagious Disease, etc. Now it seems like we’ve declared War on Education. 15,000 California educators were given notice last week that they might not have jobs this next school year so that we can afford to fight the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan. If this president has his way, we will have a war with Iran before he leaves office.
A February 2007 report from the Pew Charitable Trusts stated that if federal, state and local policies and practices do not change, taxpayers are expected to pay as much as $27.5 billion on prisons alone from 2007 to 2011 on top of current corrections spending! The Pew report was compiled by the Center on the State’s Public Safety Performance Project.
There are currently more than 2 million (2,319,258) Americans in jail or prison. One out of 100 American adults is in jail or prison. 32% of African American males will enter state or federal prison during their lifetime. Advocacy groups say the War on Drugs and changes in sentencing laws – not rising crime rates – explain America’s ballooning prison population. We didn’t declare war on drugs; we declared war on American citizens on American soil. We are by far the world’s leader in inmates per capita, with 750 per 100,000 people in prison. That puts us ahead of China, Russia, and the former Soviet bloc nations which make up the top-ten list for incarceration rates.
Of those incarcerated, recent studies show that more than 50% are either functionally illiterate or have marginal education skills. 40% of released prisoners lack a high school diploma or GED – more than twice the rate of the general population over 18 years of age. These statistics clearly indicate that a lack of education is directly related to incarceration, and yet the rate of increase for prison costs is six times higher than the increase of funds for higher education. We are preparing our next generation to be inmates.
I urge you to contact your congresspersons and senators to express your opinions. Tell them what you think about reducing funding for education while increasing funds for incarceration. Ask them to support H.R. 4283, THE LITERACY, EDUCATION AND REHABILITATION ACT. This bill is intended to reduce recidivism by promoting literacy and vocational education training to prisoners while they are incarcerated so they leave prison and re-enter society as productive members. Let’s get our priorities straight.
To contact your representatives, download GovernMail 1.22 (0.9 MB): go to http://www.governmail.com and scroll down to the bottom of the page for a free download.
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