The Problem

America is often portrayed as the land of freedom and opportunity. Many American citizens are thankful that they live here and many foreigners dream of finding residence in the land of the free. But recently the United states has been plagued by a bloated and rapidly expanding prison system all the while falling back on education, the world's most important resource. The United States, to this day, leads in the number of incarcerated criminals and is quickly falling behind in educational ranking.

PBS NewsHour hosted NAACP president Benjamin Jealous and Americans for Tax Reform head Grover Norquist to discuss the serious issue of the United State prioritizing incarceration over education. In the video "NAACP Report Calls Shift in Funding Toward Prisons 'Alarming'", Jealous and Norquist discuss the United State's wasteful spending on incarceration and how citizens can keep their tax dollars in their pockets or spent more effectively on education.

Conservative Norquist and Democrat Jealous both agree that incarceration is an enourmous misuse of tax payer money. Most of the inmates in prison are there because of non-violent crimes including drug use and theft. That means inmates who are heroin or meth users are posed as the same threat as rapists and sex offenders. The unequal classification causes the need for more money spent on handling these inmates and erecting even bigger prisons.

The even bigger problem is that all schools do not have the same opportunities and funds to teach effectively. As the budget for the growing prison system increases, education must suffer a lower balance to decrease deficit spending. Many schools in urban areas that receive the lowest funding are the most at risk. Jealous explains that urban schools usually have to sacrifice music and art programs,  have little to no computer access and have more teacher turnovers. The lack of educational programs and strained access to good teachers create a bigger gap to the small amount of students who are motivated to learn and those who do not care about their education.

Jealous sets forth the proposition to remove non-violent criminals from the prison system and put them into rehabilitation centers which he says "dollar for dollar, rehabilitation is seven times more effective." The rehabilitation solution stated by Jealous could put money towards better teachers to engage the students in their lessons and resources for the school to utilize.

Being tough on crime does not mean we must treat every criminal the same. We must take in consideration the crimes they commit and their intent. Classifying murderers with drug abusers leads to a bloated and unnecessary prison population. The United States could instantly start saving money by having non-violent criminals rehabilitated rather than just thrown in a cell, which is extremely costly. The money we could save to spend on school to educate the youth provides a much bigger benefit than locking up inmates who do not deserve harsh jail times.

Source: Woodruff, Judy. "NAACP Report Calls Shift in Funding Toward Prisons 'Alarming'"                                     YouTube. YouTube, 7 Apr. 2011. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.