Loren, I agree with the Jackson quote. But my quibble with your emphasis on higher education is three-fold. First, kids in college do better than average already; let's start by spending money on those whose economic prospects are worse than average. Two, higher education in this country has always stood in contrast to vocational education, which has not nearly the level of suppport as academic studies but should have. Finally, we are long overdue for federal spending and regulation to push improvement in the primary and secondary schools, and particularly to address the discrepancies of resources between wealthy and poor districts that arise from funding primary and secondary education from property taxes. So drop "higher" and sign me on. :-) --Alan G. Isaac On Tue, 14 Feb 1995 20:02:46 -0800 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > >Dear Alan > > In response to your question, "Why higher education?" >I would argue that higher education is the key to keeping >people from needing to be put in prison. It is quite clear >to me that we do not currently have a highly educated >prison population; in fact, I believe that I have read >that as much as 50% of all inmates in state pens have less >than a high school education. Therefore, my conclusion >is that education in general but more specifically higher >education is the key to limited the number of individuals >who are imprisoned during their lifetimes. > > How exactly to spend this money would be open >for debate either now or after the amendment were ratified. >(It would seem that if it were a Republican proposal >afterwards would be just fine but if it were a Democratic >proposal we would surely have to outline everything in >advance :) Just a side note sorry) But it is my clear >belief that increase access to higher ed would lessen >the current burden of prison inmates in the long run. > > > Essentially I am asking for both a short run >and long run solution to crime and I believe that higher >ed offers that based on casual evidence that I believe >exists. I am confident that sociological research would >support the fact that people with a college degree are much >less likely to end up in a state pen. > > Thank you for your question as it gave me an >opportunity to expand on this idea. > >Loren Rice >The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma >"The real solution to welfare and crime is jobs and >education" -- Jessee Jackson 1994 speaking to William >Bennett
