Free Education in Prison & Where on Earth our Taxes are Going

“Prison education is a means of rehabilitating & re-directing. If you release someone with the same skills with which she came in, she’s going to get involved in the same activities as she did before.” – Marymount Bedford Hills Program student.

According to the Prison Studies Project, there have been studies conducted over the last two decades that have confirmed that the higher the education level in prison programs, the crime rate ultimately reduces saving the taxpayers money. However, taking into consideration that less than 5% of American’s taxes are going toward prisons does not make this situation any better.

From what I have researched, I do think that prisoners who are not serving a life sentence & are not mentally ill should be educated to high school level for education is an important step for people to grow. However, I do not think that it is fair that hardworking Americans with clean records & are earning a living for themselves are spending thousands of dollars on college educations when people who have done wrong are getting a college education for free.

The government justifies their spending by telling us where our money is going (see photo from www.cbpp.org). Even so, many citizens do not see results. 22% of our taxes go toward social security… Oh, I’m sorry, I am pretty sure that I have heard that social security will be nonexistent by the time I need it so what am I paying for? Also, why are only 2% of our taxes going toward education? That seems insanely low to me.

Here is what our taxes should be paying for:

1. High school education for prisoners (ones without life sentences)

2. Defense & international security assistance

3. Healthcare for EVERYONE (which should include medical & scientific research since it betters life for humans)

4. Free education

5. International affairs

6. Fixing of roadways, transportation routes, etc.

7. Financial support for the elderly & disabled I may be missing some here, but these are the 7 that I think are the most important. I don’t understand what is so difficult about changing the system to better the people. Our system is so backward that we make it a struggle for working-class people to get a higher education, but our criminals are getting it for free. If we had the American money-hungry mentality with Europe’s healthcare & education system, we would be unstoppable. We need a change & we need it now before our economy collapses as a whole. We’ve already gone through one recent government shutdown; let’s try to prevent another.

Until next time... ciao 💗

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