Fund education, reduce crime

This is in response to “State money for prisoner education?” (March 28). If “the net effect is dollars saved,” how does this end up costing money? In that case, it’s not “education funding that isn’t going towards students at its campuses.” It’s actually prison funding that’s going toward something that actually reduces recidivism. Novel idea, indeed! The fact is this: Things aren’t fair, and we can’t make them fair. After all, is it fair that, because I, through no fault of my own, was born to a well-educated, supportive, middle-class family, I’ve had many fewer obstacles in the way of getting an education than many people who were born in different situations, and that I’ve had an almost absurdly easy life? No, it’s not, and that kind of unfairness can never be done away with. Everyone has different influences on them, and they take different life paths, due at least in part to those different influences. What will work for society is not taking the hard line that just because it’s education and some people pay for it, even if it reduces recidivism, we shouldn’t provide it to (presumably “undeserving”) inmates. What will work for society is taking the path that reduces recidivism and hopefully ends up saving money and reducing the money allocated to the penal system. It’s money that could be better spent on other things – like perhaps more funding for education.