Schools or Prisons - Where Are Our Priorities?

I recently discovered something that disturbed me greatly. As a society Americans are more concerned with the undesirables of our population than the children that are our future. Let me explain:

Currently, there approximately 2 million inmates in the US prison systems. Most of these inmates are serving sentences for drug trafficking offenses. The remainder of the inmate population has been convicted of weapons offenses, immigration law violations, violent offenses, fraud, property crimes, sex offenses, and other miscellaneous offenses. The average sentence length for inmates in BOP custody is 9.6 years.

The average daily cost per inmate is $64.19. This means that, $23,429 is spent on an inmate annually. The costs incurred by the government include housing, food, clothing, rehabilitative programs (this includes the opportunity for inmates to continue their education), and medical care. I have worked in the field of corrections for ten years and I have seen the way inmates manipulate the system to squeeze every cent that they can out of the government. It is without a doubt blatant abuse of the system. However, prison officials rarely scrutinize these expenditures for fear of the inmate rights groups taking them to court for abusing the inmates in their facilities. So the cycle of spending never ends.

Now the real tragedy follows:

There are approximately 53 million children in the public school system in the US. For far too long these school children have been victims of a terrible crime. On average US public school districts spend $8,287 per student annually. Sadly this number includes all provided materials (i.e. text books, computers, etc). It is no secret that the public school system as whole in the US is broke. The fact that students have had to share text books and sometimes even desks is a disheartening one.

I myself was educated in both the public and private schools systems and I noticed a vast difference. While in private school all the materials I needed to be successful were at my disposal. Whether it was arts supplies or an adequate library for research it was there waiting for me. When I made the move into the public school system I was shocked. I had to share books, desks and even a locker. Based on my experience if a student in a public school exceeds the established standards, whether state or federal, it is because he or she had the desire to do so. It is definitely not because their school pushed them to do it.

It is a sad thing that nationally more money is spent on those that have proven time and time again that they cannot live among society, than is spent on the future of our world. I am not suggesting that the corrections facilities around the country should revert back to bread and water and straw mattresses but prioritizes who and what we spend money is without a doubt needed. I work in the prison systems and I have seen the amount of money that is wasted daily.

My mother-in-law has is an educator and she is always talking about what she good she could do with a bigger budget. When you think about it students require the same basic needs that inmates do. Most students eat at least two meals while at school, and schools are required to have some type of medical care on site.

I realize that there is not going to be an overnight fix to the disparity in spending, but when are the American people going to wake up a see that our young people's education is being sacrificed for the good of the people that cannot live with them.