Misplaced priorities create a prison boom, education bust
OPINION - Over the years, as states escalated spending on prisons, funding for education suffered...
Life started hard for Michael A. Hargrove Sr. Born to alcoholic parents, he turned to the streets for guidance he missed at home. At 10 years old, Michael sold drugs. Two years later, he started using. He dropped out of school in ninth grade. Quickly, Michael became in his own words “a jailbird” caught in a “revolving door experience with the Department of Corrections.”
Incarceration. Release. Reincarceration. There is a better way, a smarter way, to deal with low-level offenders like Michael.
Too often, especially in African-American communities, the criminal justice system scoops up young offenders with drug addictions. They get locked up. They receive little, if any, drug treatment or education. They get released. They can’t find work because of their criminal record. They get locked up again.
WATCH NAACP’S BEN JEALOUS DISCUSS THE REPORT ON MSNBC
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The time is right for this vicious cycle to end.
The NAACP on April 7 released a report that outlines how escalating investments in incarceration in the last 30 years have surpassed benefits to public safety and, because of misplaced spending, now undermines educational opportunities. The report, “Misplaced Priorities: Under Educate, Over Incarcerate,” is part of the NAACP’s “Smart and Safe Campaign,” an initiative aimed at reforming the nation’s criminal justice system. The release of “Misplaced Priorities” coincides with the launch of a multi-city regional billboard campaign designed to influence state budget decisions.
About 2.3 million people are in prisons or jails in the United States. A majority of those confined are people of color. Almost 500,000 inmates—nearly 25 percent of those incarcerated—are there because of a drug charge. That is where the United States stands after decades of criminal justice policies rooted in the 1970s. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Our country accounts for 5 percent of the world population but 25 percent of its prison population. The annual tab to support this outdated system is $70 billion.
Over the years, as states escalated spending on prisons, funding for education suffered. From 1987 to 2007, corrections funding grew by 127 percent, according to the Pew Center for the States. During that same time, higher education funding grew by 21 percent.
“Misplaced Priorities” reveals that escalating spending on incarceration has had additional negative impact on communities that can least afford it. The results can be seen in larger class sizes. Schools without after care programs. Schools lacking counselors. In fact, the NAACP report shows that neighborhoods with the highest incarceration rates also are home to the lowest performing schools. In Philadelphia, 23 of 35 lower performing schools are in neighborhoods with the highest incarceration rates. In Los Angeles, 69 of the 90 low performing schools are in neighborhoods with the highest incarceration rates. In Houston, five of the six lower performing schools are in neighborhoods with the highest incarceration rates.
State lawmakers forced by huge budget deficits to spend taxpayer dollars smartly are taking a close look at the date tough-on-crime policies. California took action on Monday when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that will move tens of thousands of low-level offenders from state prisons to county jails nearer their homes, where experts say, treatment for substance abuse or mental health issues has a better chance of success. Kansas, Kentucky, Texas, New York, New Jersey and other states have taken steps to reform policy or reduce prison populations.
More is needed. “Misplaced Priorities” recommends 11 policies that would downsize prison populations and shift state funds to education. They include eliminating mandatory-minimum sentences for drug crimes; shortening prison sentences for inmates who complete education and substance abuse programs; increasing parole rates and reducing revocation rates of people under community supervision for technical violations; and establishing “reinvestment commissions” in the states that will identify ways to downsize prison populations and shift savings to education budgets.
Eight years ago, Michael Hargrove Sr. was arrested again. For violating probation, he was facing two years in prison. Michael begged his probation officer for alternative, telling him, “I’m an addict, and I need some help. If I go to prison, when I come out I will have even more reasons to get high and not get any help for my addictions.” Michael enrolled in yearlong treatment program. He says he has been clean ever since. In 2007, he earned his high school diploma. He cofounded and a nonprofit support group for ex-offenders who have addictions.
There are thousands of Michael Hargrove Sr.’s seeking ways out of the criminal justice cycle. Without serious reform, they have little chance of escape.
