By Anna Cameron
Flanked by a bipartisan coalition of law enforcement experts, the NAACP unveiled a new report on the escalating levels of prison spending at the National Press Club Thursday.
Entitled “Misplaced Priorities: Over Incarcerate, Under Educate,” the report focuses on the increased flow of state dollars away from education and toward prison funding. The study reveals a strong correlation between high incarceration rates and poor education systems in states across the nation.
“We have arrived at a point where we have, all across our nation, rising prison budgets and falling education budgets. This is inconsistent with a great nation and something that we have to deal with right away,” noted former Education Secretary Rod Paige.
On this issue, the NAACP has garnered the support of an array of lawmakers and experts, among them notable conservatives Grover Nordquist, Pat Nolan, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
“Center-right activists and political leaders [are] focusing on ‘How much do we spend on incarceration? Are we getting our money’s worth?’ What is the cost-benefit analysis when someone gets sentenced to prison?’” said Nordquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform. “I think It’s been helpful because conservatives have not focused on these issues over the last ten or twenty years.”
Presently, the United States accounts for five percent of the world’s population, but twenty-five percent of its prisoners.