Posted on 12/17/2006 6:32:35 AM PST by wintertime
Last year, more than 7 million American people -- that’s about one in every 32 adults -- were behind bars, on probation or parole. The United States has, for years, imprisoned more people than any other country in the world. Yet, we don’t have the highest literacy rate....
(snip)
Inner-city schools fail half of their students, and jobs are removed from communities, replaced with guns and drugs, resulting in incarceration, if you’re lucky; death if you’re not. Nonetheless, many U.S. states have cut their education budgets to compensate for rapid growth in prison populations and prison construction. The misguided priorities that inform such decisions have only served to further marginalize already oppressed populations. It’s time that this country shifts its focus away from imprisonment and commits its resources to education and empowerment.
In the past 20 years, more than a thousand new prisons and jails have been built in the U.S. Yet, our prisons are more overcrowded now than ever.....(snip)... The nation’s "war on drugs" and the stiff sentencing laws that grew out of that war are largely to blame.
......The numbers of individuals sentenced for drug crimes increased nearly 65 percent between 1996 and 2003, accounting for the largest increase in inmates in the federal system.
(snip)
If federal and local governments were to adequately fund the nation’s public schools, ensuring all students had access to high-quality teachers, tutoring and after-school programs, we could stem the growth of the nation’s prison population. With support, many could be steered away from drugs and the street life and pushed towards college or vocational school. Instead, the country has poured its money into a criminal injustice system that, instead of creating special programs designed to rehabilitate the low-level offender, corals these lost souls into the nation’s prisons. Upon release, having no education and no skills, many return to the lifestyles that landed them in prison. It’s a dangerous cycle, and only prison architects and big business benefit.
In 1977, I was incarcerated for seven months. I was told that it cost taxpayers $30,000 to incarcerate me. A year later, I enrolled at Eastern Michigan University under an affirmative action program. Because I was poor, I had to use loans and tax-payer supported government grants to pay for my education. The cost of my four-year education was $24,000, less than the cost of my short jail sentence. No longer a burden to taxpayers, I am a significant taxpayer, helping, through my tax contributions, to pave the way for others who’ve yet to get an opportunity to make a way for themselves.
The tax dollars used to support my education were a worthy investment, one that benefits all of society. America should take note and act accordingly.
Students fail because teachers don't teach.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
And,,,teachers and principals can not dish out the moral and ethical (religious) advice that students and their inexperienced parents need. Try that and they would be quickly fired.
yeah....piss more money on education...that's the answer!!!
no matter how much money is spent you cannot change all ....
seems the moneyed basketball players in the garden last night were a shining example to the youth...their fans!!!!
certain individuals cannot be civilized....the best answer might be a charlie rangle mandatory conscription....at least the money spent trying to civilize educate them might have positive benefits...
what the US has now surely is just a lib/dem'd wet dream!!!!
What kind of judge encourages dependence on the government and leaves out sad educational practices on the part of minorities as significant reasons for this accurrance.
Don't mention Asian because they are not suppose to show Blacks how the system can work.
Is he suggesting we put criminals on scholarship intead of in jail? Tell you what, Mathis--if killers stop killing and thieves stop stealing, then maybe we have something to talk about.
In any case, he's a moron. And I didn't even have to read the article to reach that conclusion. All I needed to see were the words "Invest More" in the headline.
How about the fact that the majority of black children are born in fatherless homes
Gee, maybe there's some coincidence there
You're right; the article is so full of logical fallacies and inconsistencies, one does not know where to begin to start.
MEET T.V.'S JUDGE MATHIS: He roughed up KFI's John Ziegler during Tookie night at San Quentin
Shhh.. you can't let the general public now that. We have to keep blaming "institutional racism, underfunding and cultural bia".
1) It should really say, "Half of inner-city school students (and families) fail themselves."
Students fail because teachers don't teach.
2) I taught in some of the worst inner-city schools for seven years and to say that the teachers didn't teach is absolutley untrue. In my department, everyday the teacher busted butt to provide the best for those kids only to have it thrown back in their faces by kids who only showed up a couple times a week and who caused trouble when they did show up. Most of the kids received no moral guidance AT HOME. Those that did actually managed to learn amid the chaos and apathy of their peers.
Utter rubbish.
a fools breakfast.
ErrRRRR
I guess I spend too much time watch Maury testing the 14th guy for some woman who gat drunk at a party and doesn't know who her baby daddy be!!
Mathis should have lunch with Cosby.
For sure. . .and the Countries who lead over America in superior 'educational outcome' spend far less on their students than do we.
. . .and we should take note; that every child 'rising' in China is compelled to learn English. . .their education begins, 'pre-school' or our Kindergarten level. . .
Seems the least we could do; is have a second language available for our young (yes. ..some shools do; but not national profile) and even better for future competition or even survival; perhaps Chinese should be made a mandatory language skill in all American schools, as well.
Start with American History and gradually include World History starting around the 5th or 6th grade.
By the time Junior High starts, enough should have been so firmly imbedded in the minds of a child that the whole of human knowledge could/would be more easily and truthfully absorbed and thus, hopefully, an informed electorate will be able to ensure the survival and reclamation of this once God blessed land ... The united states of America.
No, he doesn't. He says that "many U.S. states have cut their education budgets..." which may be true. You wouldn't know without looking on a state-by-state basis. I'm sure federal funding has increased.
2) Government schools can NOT provide the moral direction that parents and children need. The advice that must be given to, and demands made of parents and children can only be dished out by a private school. Why? Answer: Because those demands and that advice is politically incorrect and would violate establishment of religion.
Actually, there are some government schools and some educational programs which have been very successful with inner-city children. As examples, I'd point out the KIPP program (which I believe you first drew my attention to), and Success For All.
The problem with these programs include requirements for highly motivated teachers who work extremely long hours, extremely structured programs that some teachers do not like because they "stifle creativity", and very disciplined programs that some parents will not comply with. They also tend to be more expensive than "regular" schools, and funding can be a problem in poor neighborhoods.
3) Due to the points made in #2, more time in government schools make children worse, not better.
I think it's debatable whether inner-city children are better off in school or on the street.
4) Shouldn't a judge know that it is unconstitutional for the federal government to be involved in education?
Regardless of whether it's unconstitutional or not, the federal government is involved in education, and doesn't seem likely to uninvolve itself any time soon.
In any case, the judge's recommendations could be equally applied to state and local governments.
5) Judge Mathis falsely believes that spending more money on education will reduce the prison population. I won't. Ending the war on drugs will. These people are in prison because they are working in the black market. That black market has NOTHING at all to do with K-12 schools.
You make a good point about ending the war on drugs. I believe Judge Mathis's point is that those without education or skills to obtain good jobs, and thus participate in the legal marketplace, are more likely to participate in the black market.
6) He states that he benifited [sic] from his college education. Well....that college education was funded by vouchers and loans that he could use to attend any private or government school that would accept him. K-12 schools would benefit from free markets too.
I think it's worth a try, but there are many neighborhoods where there are no private schools. I think if vouchers are ever tried, it will be interesting to see what sorts of schools begin springing up to take advantage of them.
absolutley => absolutely
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