What Incarceration Is Costing Our Schools

When the government spends more on incarceration, they almost always enact budget cuts on the education system. The more we imprison and take care of prisoners, the more we must cut out of a child's education. The article "Education Vs. Incarceration" presents that "From 2000-2010, Pennsylvania’s inmate population grew 40%, from 36,816 to 51,487" and "the Philadelphia district closed 23 schools and fired thousands of teachers, aides and counselors in the remaining schools" displaying how important increases in incarceration spending affects our education system.

In Philadelphia there is a huge deficit in the city budget. Budget makers had to choose between feeding the unquenchable prison budget or saving one of America's lowest performing school district. In the infographic provided by Jason Killinger, Philadelphia had decreased its budget by about one billion dollars all the while increased its prison spending by nine hundred million. While the incarceration rates rose, the graduation decreased in urban areas by as low as forty-nine percent. Also, the majority of those incarcerated were illiterate and committed non-violent crimes. During these budget cuts Philadelphia declined to the forty-third ranking in its education level. Only one out of every ten high school graduates have a college degree and at the same time one out of every ten dropouts is put in incarceration.

Source: Jason Killinger, Education Vs. Incarceration 2012

The government needs to reprioritize its goals. We need an educated youth to both lead our country and make sure it prospers. Inmates and those on correctional programs have limited or no involvement in supporting our politics and aiding our economy. Dropouts caused by the budget cuts also pose a strain on our economy by using government assistance and only qualifying for low paying jobs in the corporate world. Those who go to college and graduate have a job acceptance rate of eighty-seven percent and make a median of fifty thousand a year.

Government strength stems from the education its citizens receive. A population that is self-aware and assess difficult situations prospers. Education is the key to prosperity and to decrease its funding would result in a stagnation in the welfare of the country. 

Source: "Books Through Bars: Education Versus Incarceration." Books Through Bars. Books                                Through Bars, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.