COLUMN: Americans should prioritize education over prisons

What future are we investing in?

Perhaps the costly “war on drugs” is a short-term investment that does not garner further safety nor liberty. Americans would be better served investing in long-term plans to educate impoverished youth and rehabilitate addicts.

According to a recent article in The Huffington Post, 2.2 million people are behind bars in America. We have higher per capita prisoners than Russia, Iran and Syria. According to Fox News, states are spending three to four times more on prisons than they are spending on education. More appalling, the Oklahoma Literacy Resource Office accounts that 9 percent of prisoners have less than a high school education, 28 percent have some high school, 13 percent have a diploma and 28 percent have a GED. They also estimate, “If the male high school graduation rate were increased just 5 percent, annual crime-related saving to the nation would be approximately $5 billion dollars.” This is a simple issue that just makes sense.

There are some topics individuals can usually agree on: saving money, decreasing crime and increasing education. Decreasing the prison population and increasing education would seem like no-brainers most Americans could agree on, but why is there almost nothing done about this issue?

Most speculate the “war on drugs” is a leading cause in rising prison population. In December, the Wall Street Journal estimated the drug war costs Americans $40 billion a year, and 50 percent of all federal prisoners and 20 percent of state prisoners are locked up for drug use or trafficking. The war disproportionately tends to affect racial minorities and the poor.

Furthermore, the privatization of prisons has made it profitable for a continued influx of prisoners. The free-market has created a situation in which doing the right thing negatively affects some company’s bottom line. So, in true American fashion, we do what is profitable in the short-term rather than what is an investment for the long-term.

The solution is simple—   Give up the “war on drugs.” The Washington Post commented on a slight decline in prison populations between 2010 and 2011. The connecting factor was decreased admissions of nonviolent drug offenders.

Clearly, once someone falls into the prison system it makes it more difficult to live a straight life. A life of crime is a more lucrative profession than working for minimum wage. By diverting funds from the war on drugs to improve education rates, Americans could save money by investing in youth early instead of supporting them in a prison cell their whole lives.

While most states have been forced to decrease spending on prison facilities, the federal government has actually increased the budget for prisons. Perhaps we are not allocating funds appropriately. Instead of spending these funds on incarcerating drug addicts we should use the funds to treat the underlying addiction.

We have been trying to solve the drug problem for years in America and what we are doing is not working. There may be several underlying factors why we are not effectively decreasing prison populations. But it is not the time to place blame or deny this problem. However, it is time to take a new approach and move forward. Let’s break the cycle and invest in schools, mental health and rehabilitation.

These investments will be far more rewarding than private or public prisons.