Jan
9
Source: Boston.com
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[Arnold Schwarzenegger] said that in the last 30 years, prison spending increased from 3 percent of the state general fund to 11 percent while higher education spending declined from 10 percent to 7.5 percent.
“Spending 45 percent more on prisons than universities is no way to proceed into the future,’’ he said.
This op-ed by Derrick Z. Jackson brings up California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to bar the state from spending more on prisons than on higher education. I agree that we should not spend more money on prison than education. Perhaps this definition of “education” should extend beyond postsecondary education. How about all schools? Or, in general, how about we pay more attention to rehabilitating criminals than to just locking them up repeatedly? I agree with Jackson’s ending point regarding the cocaine laws:
The laws are so embarrassing that this week, in an interview with the Boston Globe editorial board, Democratic senatorial candidate and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley called the cocaine laws “crazy.’’ It is refreshing to hear a Democrat like her and a Republican like Schwarzenegger say that our criminal justice priorities are insane, with education always getting the strait-jacket. It is the first step out of the asylum.
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