MCN/USA TODAY NETWORK
February 5, 2021
Gov. Tom Wolf recently unveiled, as part of his 2021-22 budget, a plan to invest $1.3 billion in public schools.
Investments are typically made with an eye toward cashing
in. Can an investment in education pay dividends?
Several years ago the Alliance for Excellent Education,
which advocates for raising the high school graduation rate, reported that
America could save billions of dollars in annual crime costs if school
districts could raise the male high school graduation rate. While graduation
rates have increased according to a 2019 Alliance report, males and
"historically underserved students" have lagged behind.
There was a time when disruptive students were sent to see
the principal. Today in some school districts, the disruptive student is handcuffed
and ushered off to court. The school-to-prison pipeline is overflowing with
students.
According to the Washington Post, more than 3 million
students each year are suspended or expelled from school across the United
States. Federal data, though limited, shows that nearly a quarter of a million
students are annually referred to law enforcement.
There is an indirect correlation between educational
attainment and arrest and incarceration rates — particularly among males.
According to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice
Statistics, 56% of federal inmates, 67% of inmates in state prisons, and 69% of
inmates in local jails did not complete high school.
The Alliance for Excellent Education found that increasing
the male graduation rate would decrease crime nationwide.
In Pennsylvania, and across the country, the potential
savings from an increase in the male high school graduation rate could be
literally hundreds of millions of dollars in crime-related costs and produce
millions in earnings and tax revenue from individuals who are employed rather
than incarcerated.
There is more to the crime and education connection than
just coursework and passing grades. The combination of largely unnoticed
actions undertaken by individual schools affects education climates for
millions of students in thousands of schools across the country. These school
climates, in turn, often profoundly affect student performance.
An investment in education is an investment in crime
prevention. The potential to save money, generate revenue and minimize the
anguish that comes with victimization is too important to ignore.
Matthew T. Mangino is the former district attorney of
Lawrence County and an adjunct professor at Thiel College in Mercer County.
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