PAYING NOW OR PAYING LATER

In a recent Press Journal article, "New school could be in future," Greg
Smith, assistant superintendent of operations, notes, "About $338,000 is
being spent this year to get portables and equip them to be used as
classrooms."

Also included were comments from others on whether the need exists, or when
it may exist in the future.

Elsewhere in the same edition, we read, "Inmates straining cash- strapped
governments." In that article, we learn, "In Florida, there were 75,210
prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional
authorities at the end of 2002," an increase of 3.9 percent in one year.

Included are costs of $20,000 per inmate per year and construction costs of
about $100,000 per cell. (Doing the math, $20,000 x 75,210 = $1,504,200,000.)

What would happen if we spent $100,000 to build a classroom instead a
prison cell? What would happen if, instead of $20,000 to house inmates,
some money were earmarked for rehabilitation instead of the current system
solely designed for confinement?

Our society professes to care about education and lacks compassion for
inmates. Actions speak louder than words. If more were spent on education,
perhaps less would be needed for prisons. Or maybe the two issues aren't
related at all.