Report: Arizona spends $20K more annually per inmate over a student
Arizona spends $20,000 more annually on each inmate than it does on a student in its school system, a federal report said.
(AP Photos)
(AP Photos)
PHOENIX — Arizona spends $20,000 more annually on each inmate than it does on a student in its school system, a federal report said.
The report from the U.S. Department of Education said, over the last three decades, the nation has increased penal spending at three times the rate of that spent on schools.
Arizona is no different. In 2015, the state spent $3,573 per K-12 pupil and $23,441 per inmate.
However, Dan Hunting, a senior policy analyst with the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University, said it’s important to keep the report in perspective.
“We do spend a lot of money on incarceration,” he said. “Not as much as education, but still a significant amount of money.”
Hunting said Arizona’s education spending eats up a much larger portion of the state budget than prisons, but the report shines an interesting light on the disparity of each system’s budget increases in the last 30 years.
“We’ve reduced our education spending by about 26 percent, while our corrections expenditures is one of the few areas of the budget that is actually increased in spending relative to the size of the economy,” he said.
Hunting said the report should make Arizonans think about how the government is spending tax dollars.
“You’re getting some degree of increased public safety, for sure,” he said. “How much is a matter of some debate, especially if you’re talking about nonviolent offenders.”
Hunting also said the money spent on public education has a clear-cut return to Arizona.
“If somebody is educated and they get a better job, they’re paying more taxes, they’re making life better for everybody including themselves,” he said.
Key findings from the report include:
- Over the past three decades, between 1979–80 and 2012–13, state and local expenditures for P–12 education doubled from $258 to $534 billion, while total state and local expenditures for corrections quadrupled from $17 to $71 billion.
- All states had lower expenditure growth rates for P-12 education than for corrections, and in the majority of the states, the rate of increase for corrections spending was more than 100 percentage points higher than the growth rate for education spending.
- Even when adjusted for population changes, growth in corrections expenditures outpaced P-12 expenditures in all but two states (New Hampshire and Massachusetts).
- Over the roughly two decades, between 1989–1990 and 2012–2013, state and local appropriations for public colleges and universities remained flat, while funding for corrections increased by nearly 90 percent.
- On average, state and local higher education funding per full-time equivalent student fell by 28 percent, while per capita spending on corrections increased by 44 percent.
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Comments
7 Comments
If you call two sandwiches with one piece of cheese and one piece of bread a meal for breakfast lunch and dinner and People want to take that away? Nowadays people are getting arrested for everything why because it makes the city money. Imagine a criminal getting out and being able to get a job and be a successful citizen of society because he’s already served his time and he give back Instead of committing more crimes to survive because no one hires felons, felons can’t get apartments unless it’s ghetto and they can pay taxes but can’t get food stamps if they have a drug Conviction which means they can’t eat so how is the system working? Criminals to give back too if they were given a chance. They pay their debt to society Doing their time. They could use that time to better themselves so that they could be better when they get out so it doesn’t happen again but instead they pay rest of their life. And people that want to turn their nose up when 90% of the people has committed a crime Just never got caught. And want act better than everyone. And people that run this country get caught and never serve time so this whole system is jacked so no one’s opinion matters to me that has never had to steal to eat No one should ever have to steal to eat Just because they made one mistake in their life. What makes me mad is that I work, I pay taxes, but When I needed help during a rough spot I was denied asst. one time I needed it. I’m lucky I had a man. Because my money I waste giving to this government that does not benefit me what so ever. Who put that law in effect? People that have never been hungry,never been poor, And you never needed it. Well lucky you you shouldnt have a say.
Medical marijuana is what’s going to save it this population instead of ruining it by Peoples lives by putting them in jail and having a criminal record for having it but opiates that are killing people are allowed and legal . Talk about ignorant people . People that don’t have a clue about anything should not be running this country . Anyone that hasn’t experienced both sides of the line Shouldn’t be in charge Of anything because they have no clue what it’s like on the side they think they know what’s best about.
Well I’m going to tell you this it is not $3000 per inmate that spend . Inmates only get two sandwiches and a scoop of slop to eat in a day. You are provided no shampoo you get one little bar soap a little toothbrush and a little thing of toothpaste. They are provided With one pair underwear one pair of socks and a sports bra and the strips, a sheet and blanket That get changed once a week. It’s not going to the inmate it’s going to the jails. The inmate has to buy everything I know this because I’m the one that has a put the money on the books so I don’t know what Anyone is complaining about and prisons Should be offering things to better the inmate so that they don’t go back to crime and they can make it without having to do it again. People commit crimes a lot of times because they’re hungry nowadays and our system set up where no one will hire felons, Won’t give Food stamps if you have a drug conviction ever in your life so what Do people expect to happen by doing this? people have to eat. No job no money no food stamps even we set these people up to fail and commit crimes. They are both important as long as the money is actually going to The benefit of the student or the inmate and not the people that run it so that both can give back to the community. Frankly I feel it’s the people that benefit from that money not who its intended for.