Collin Szafranski

English 1101
5/5/16
The education system is in need of a reform and to do that, money is needed to help
nurture and advance our societies people and their future generations in order to provide the
masses with the tools necessary for personal advancement, one way we can do that is by
taking funds from the overfunded prisons and reallocating it to the areas that need more
financial support.
Spreading education through the green back initiative.
With the economy slowly crawling from the depths of the last recession it is more
important than ever to make sure the scarce amount of resources available are efficiently put to
use. With all the taxes and revenue generated by the state there is room for reformation and
reallocation of the system used by the local government. If we want a healthier local and
national economy we must first follow the money and see where it leads, this will tell exactly
how much and where the funds are going. Once we find the places that receive the inflow of
money we can then dissect the area and make the necessary cutbacks or funnel more funds to
the programs associated. There are plenty of fields that could use the revenue one is the
educational system, if we could develop a way to actually teach these kids instead of filling them
with the study and forget methods that are widely used we can increase the overall iq in the
country, stop dropout from occurring, and overall reduce the crime rates that are caused by lack
of understanding or drop out criminals.
The educational system is in need of an overhaul and some state dont seem to think
much of it, in a report by the american academy of art and science the state budgets for public
universities have been cut about 20 percent since 2008 when recession hit, while funding for
prisons has spiked 141 percent. [Beatrice Gitau] education is an important factor in modern
society and to cut the spending is like saying it won't affect us which is sadly a true statment by
many upper officials because they assume that it won't affect them in their lifetime. In future
generations we will see the ramifications this mentality has on future adults and their offspring
due to bad decisions being made now. From the same article A 2014 report from the Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) shows a direct correlation between increased prison
spending and cuts in education. Not surprisingly, states with the highest incarceration rates pull
the most money from their schools. [Gitau] It's a shame that kids are being affected by the
adults that only want to deal with the short term problems such as criminals instead of the long
term goals like the future education, and something needs to be done for the future of our kids
and our country.
With the resources available we can effectively redistribute large sums of revenue to
other areas, again in a speech delivered by the National Press Club they proposed taking 15
Billion dollars from the over funded prison system and put it toward education and Secretary
Duncan said "With a move like this, we'd not just make a bet on education over incarceration,

we'd signal the beginning of a long-range effort to pay our nation's teachers what they are
worth," Duncan said. "That sort of investment wouldn't just make teachers and struggling
communities feel more valued. It would have ripple effects on our economy and our civic life."
[Gitau] this is a very important outlook that others should consider not only does it show that
there is a future for the students and faculty but also a long term effect on the incarceration
rates. With the proper support this could happen and overall it would be healthier for the
economy by increasing the populace's ability to work for specialized jobs and bring many out of
the poverty line.
Life in prison is not cheap and costs a lot of money, now i'm not saying that it is
unimportant to support the lives of those prisoners in any way shape or form. A study shows that
At least 15% of the prisoners in 20 states are 50 or older, according to the ACLU report. In
West Virginia, 20% were at least 50. The costs of confining such prisoners are about double -$68,270 per year -- the $34,135 annual cost for the average younger inmate. [Beiser H] Sadly
this is more than some families make because they are stuck at low wage jobs that can provide
financial security or any room for advancement in their fields to remedy this I suggest we take
steps to prevent any unjust spending. with the costs steadily increasing something needs to be
done, like adding a in house money system to make prisoners work and pay for their time in
jail, this will promote responsibility and give the certain skills they need when entering society
again. Currently there are many prisons that just house the prisoners without any sort of work or
social rehabilitation that is needed to stop the institutionalization of the prisoners on the inside,
many of which only know how to survive on the inside and can never make on the outside in
their current state. This is terrible because they cant become functioning members of society
and end up back in the jail houses wasting more of the tax payer money.
With the revenue generated by taxes and other services there is plenty of room for
spreading the wealth and reallocating many resources that have become readily available to the
local and federal government. With more funding to push on to education and its instructors we
can increase overall intelligence and stop young kids from dropping out and becoming criminals
that will end up wasting the space in the jails with many minor crimes and costing taxpayers
millions because they didnt learn responsibility or the tools necessary to survive in the world as
we know it. And this can be remedied but increasing school funding, developing personal
learning plans, and hiring more instructors to help and nurture students for the far off future
instead of the next test on the list.
Sources:
Beatrice Gitau, Staff. "The hidden costs of funding prisons instead of schools." Christian
Science Monitor 03 Oct. 2015: N.PAG. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
-Article, states how the government is taking money from school funding and allocating it
toward prisons, and that costs on the upward of 15 billion in taxpayer money, good for some
stats and how some states are using poor resource management.

Kevin, Johnson, Beiser H. Darr, and TODAY USA. "The cost of 'life' in prison." USA Today n.d.:
Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. (link to page)
-Article, gives direct costs of keeping people in prison and detailed accounts. Very useful
in terms of the cost that goes into prisons on a per inmate basis.
Prison Fellowship "Frequently Asked Questions About Prison - Prison Fellowship." Prison
Fellowship. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
http://www.prisonfellowship.org/resources/training-resources/in-prison/prison-culture/frequentlyasked-questions-about-prison/
-Article, tells how prisoners spend their day, and gives insight on activities that are
needed for for my argument.
Manza, Jeff. "Do Prisons Make Us Safer? The Benefits And Costs Of The Prison Boom."
American Journal Of Sociology 117.1 (2011): 306-308. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18
Apr. 2016.
-Paper, gives great detail about cost of prisons and how we can cut costs in and around
state prisons.
"Reducing Prison Costs By Providing Treatment To Offenders." Alcoholism & Drug Abuse
Weekly 23.4 (2011): 6-7. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
-Magazine, entry gives possible ways to cut costs and keep people out of prison.