Day of Action/Reaction: Fiscal Reform and the Penal and Education Systems

The day of action is centered around education and its influence on the lives of many individuals. For many people higher education is not a right but a privilege. Increasing fees makes public higher education less accessible to the masses. Also lay-offs contribute to the exclusiveness of college, making it difficult for families to support their child’s education. Education is a familiar motif to many of the readings on Alcatraz. With a majority of their time spent in isolation, prisoners had the time to educate themselves or take university extension classes. Robert Stroud became incredibly intelligent in the field of aviary diseases and Frank Morris was able to use his above average I.Q. to escape from Alcatraz.Today an increasing amount of our state’s budget is allocated towards the maintenance of the prison system. While a decreasing amount is used for public universities and schools. Education is usually an indicator for future success. Also there is a correlation between lack of education and imprisonment. That doesn’t mean everyone who is uneducated will spend their lives in jail. However most of the incarcerated population is uneducated. If we increased the focus of fund towards education, we might be able to decrease the amount of people in jail and therefore decrease the amount of money spent on prisons. In a time of economic turmoil it is important that we examine the situation and focus our priorities and efforts on the most beneficial cause.

~J.G.