Are education and incarceration two sides of the same coin or competing industries? The short answer is ‘yes.’ They are both diametrically opposed and intrinsically linked institutions. And everything you do as an educator directly affects both. Can you be a fiscal conservative and at the same time be hard on crime, to the tune of $50 billion a year of taxpayer expense? That answer too is ‘yes,’ while also understanding that the two “schools” of thought are diametrically opposed.
The U.S. holds 5 percent of the world’s population, yet it holds 25 percent of the world’s inmate population. We seem to have an insatiable appetite to incarcerate. Unfortunately, we have not shown an equal appetite for redemption and successful reintegration of these inmates back into society.
Funding Prisons vs. Schools…Read More