A Better U.S.

By Ila Castro
Althea Roble
Breanna Roncal

Prisons

1/100 people are sent to jail

$9.5 billion dollar budget
$45,000 per inmate
CA has largest inmate population in the
country
55 months is the average prison time served

Problem
Overcrowding
Spend too much money on inmates that we
could be spending on more productive things
Most inmates in prison have done no serious
crime

Solutions
Lower prison population by:
Should initiate death penalty for serious
crimes
Raise crime standards, so there are no
filler inmates taking up space and
resources

Education
Standardized Testing
o Every state has put in place testing and standards in core subjects

High School Dropout

o At least 25% of freshmen wont graduate

Access to Education
o Commute, difference between working class and upper class

Problem
Testing
o Too many standardized test since elementary
school
o Changes the curriculum
o Testing Bias

School System
o Not enough knowledge for the future
o Falling behind on every subject

Opportunities
o Education difference in private and public schools
o If one cant afford it, one will not be able to participate

Solutions
Introduce minimal testing later
o No testing until High School

Teachers
o Higher education

Strategy of teaching
o Similar to college

Age start at school

o 7 or more emphasis on pre-school

Equal education opportunities

o With more resources everyone should be able to attend at least to high
school

Environment
Heat is the leading cause of weather-related
deaths in the United States
average temperature shows that more areas are
warming than cooling
increase of hot temperatures puts the nation at
risk of illness and death
Greater demand for air conditioning may also
trigger more summer electricity blackouts
heat in urban areas making it difficult stabilizing
healthy ground level ozone

Problem

too much CO2 in the atmosphere

threatening a reorganization of the entire marine food chain which could lead to
extinction
burning fossil fuels can accumulate CO2 and overloads the atmosphere
tropical deforestation and emissions from agriculture represent nearly 30% of the
world's heat-trapping emissions.
consequences of global warming includes:
sea level rise
shifting precipitation patterns
expansion of areas affected by drought
increasing numbers of severe heat waves

Solution

reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and by making our
food production practices more sustainable.
investing in green jobs and clean energy
build better communities and transportation networks (greening transportation)
renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, etc.
avoid heat waves
cities can educate residents on how they can protect themselves during heat waves
helping third world countries with financial assistance in developing pathways to help adapt to
the impacts of climate change

Works Cited
"Prison Overcrowding." ALEC. N.p., n.d. Web.
"Statistic of the Month: When High-Performing Countries Test
Students." NCEE. N.p., 17 Apr. 2014. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
"English Online." Shanghai Is Number One in World Education
Rankings. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.