Can't Read? Go To Jail!

[Spare_change]

On the radio today, I heard an "expert" say that one of the things prison planners use is 4th grade literacy scores to determine the need for future prison space. That struck me as strange, so I started researching it.
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The One World Literacy Foundation has found that 2/3 of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare. The 4th grade is the watershed year. We can predict that if a child is not reading proficiently in the 4th grade, he or she will have approximately a 78% chance of not catching up.

According to the literacy fast facts (Link Last 3 Words Here) Fast Facts from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) , literacy is defined as "using printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential."
Illteracy Statistics

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While there's no concrete proof that the statement is true, it does seem to have a lot of merit.

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It seems that 72% of children in the 4th grade that can't read at the 4th grade level will end up either in prison or on welfare.

Further, 85% of all juveniles who interface with the court system are functionally illiterate.Literacy Statistics

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Other statistics:

• Thirty-three percent of 4th grade public school students are at or below the “Basic” level on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading tests.
• Twenty-six percent of 8th grade public school students performed at or below the “Basic” level on the NAEP reading test (NCES, 2009).
• Among 4th graders, 53 percent of African American students, 52 percent of Hispanic students, and 48 percent of American Indian students scored below the “Basic” level on the NAEP reading test.
• Among 8th graders, 44 percent of African American students, 41 percent of Hispanic students, and 37 percent of American Indian students scored below the “Basic” level on the NAEP reading test (NCES, 2009).
• Forty-nine percent of 4th graders eligible for free and reduced-price meals finished below “Basic” on the NAEP reading test.
• Forty percent of 8th graders eligible for free and reduced-price meals scored below “Basic” on the NAEP reading test (NCES, 2009).
• The number of high school seniors who read at or above “Proficient” has been declining since 1992, according to the NAEP reading test (NCES, 2002).

• Reading Is Fundamental | Why Books Matter

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As many as 23% of the adult American population (40-44 million) is functionally illiterate (Level 1 according to the National Adult Literacy Survey), lacking basic skills beyond a fourth-grade level.

Statistics - Read All About It

So, the question is: why aren't we more focused on reading skills? Why does this happen? How can so many children fall behind in such a short period of time? Do our schools need to focus more on the three R's, and less on social skills education?

Have we found the secret weapon to combat crime and poverty?

 

[beagle9]

On the radio today, I heard an "expert" say that one of the things prison planners use is 4th grade literacy scores to determine the need for future prison space. That struck me as strange, so I started researching it.
------------------------------------------------
The One World Literacy Foundation has found that 2/3 of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare. The 4th grade is the watershed year. We can predict that if a child is not reading proficiently in the 4th grade, he or she will have approximately a 78% chance of not catching up.

According to the literacy fast facts (Link Last 3 Words Here) Fast Facts from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) , literacy is defined as "using printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential."
Illteracy Statistics

----------------------------------------------------

While there's no concrete proof that the statement is true, it does seem to have a lot of merit.

-------------------------------------------
It seems that 72% of children in the 4th grade that can't read at the 4th grade level will end up either in prison or on welfare.

Further, 85% of all juveniles who interface with the court system are functionally illiterate.Literacy Statistics

----------------------------------------------------------

Other statistics:

• Thirty-three percent of 4th grade public school students are at or below the “Basic” level on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading tests.
• Twenty-six percent of 8th grade public school students performed at or below the “Basic” level on the NAEP reading test (NCES, 2009).
• Among 4th graders, 53 percent of African American students, 52 percent of Hispanic students, and 48 percent of American Indian students scored below the “Basic” level on the NAEP reading test.
• Among 8th graders, 44 percent of African American students, 41 percent of Hispanic students, and 37 percent of American Indian students scored below the “Basic” level on the NAEP reading test (NCES, 2009).
• Forty-nine percent of 4th graders eligible for free and reduced-price meals finished below “Basic” on the NAEP reading test.
• Forty percent of 8th graders eligible for free and reduced-price meals scored below “Basic” on the NAEP reading test (NCES, 2009).
• The number of high school seniors who read at or above “Proficient” has been declining since 1992, according to the NAEP reading test (NCES, 2002).

• Reading Is Fundamental | Why Books Matter

-----------------------------------------------------------
As many as 23% of the adult American population (40-44 million) is functionally illiterate (Level 1 according to the National Adult Literacy Survey), lacking basic skills beyond a fourth-grade level.

Statistics - Read All About It

So, the question is: why aren't we more focused on reading skills? Why does this happen? How can so many children fall behind in such a short period of time? Do our schools need to focus more on the three R's, and less on social skills education?

Have we found the secret weapon to combat crime and poverty?

. Hmmm, I remember being in elementary school around the 4th grade (true story), and I remember a boy who had a problem reading etc. I thought wow this guy is struggling badly, so I tried to help him when no one else would. Found out that the boy was just mentally challenged or handicapped, and he needed professional help, but at this time in history there wasn't the type of help that children these day's are getting in school's when it comes to special education. The boy was kicked out of school for fighting by the 5th grade, and he continued fighting and getting in trouble up into his 20's. His wife shot him, and it killed him instantly when he was in his early thirties. He was mentally handicapped, and paid the ultimate price for it.

 

[candycorn]

There are plenty of stories on NPR and the PRX about what causes a lot of jail time. The original crime is adjudicated and the party is found guilty and he goes to jail. A little while into her/his sentence, maybe they get parole. Once they do, they are on the hook for monthly fees for the PO, court fees, etc… When they can’t pay, they are re-arrested for not complying with the tenants of their parole.

 

[Fenton Lum]

School to prison pipeline. A society should never allow for profit prisons with stocks traded on Wall Street. All privatization means is private corporate access to public funding. Then the phone companies pile on. Then the food service companies pile on. And we’re already back to convict leasing; there’s your jobs coming back program, slavery; profiteering from bondage, preying on citizens we no longer have jobs for. And hey, in a post industrial society where people don’t take home enough anymore to float an economy based on mass consumption, the system can turn $40-50K per year per hominid on the inside.

Private prison corporations, just like others, have stables of lawyers and lobbyists drafting legislation to further investment returns with an obvious vested interest in higher societal crime rates, higher rates of societal violence, longer sentencing, higher rates of recidivism and more criminalized behaviors. Americans are THE most incarcerated and surveilled population on the planet.

Privatized prisons started out as a pilot program in TN when now senator Lamar Alexander was governor of TN. He and his sweet wife Honey Alexander held stock in CCA, Corrections Corporation of America.

 

[Spare_change]

School to prison pipeline. A society should never allow for profit prisons with stocks traded on Wall Street. All privatization means is private corporate access to public funding. Then the phone companies pile on. Then the food service companies pile on. And we’re already back to convict leasing; there’s your jobs coming back program, slavery; profiteering from bondage, preying on citizens we no longer have jobs for. And hey, in a post industrial society where people don’t take home enough anymore to float an economy based on mass consumption, the system can turn $40-50K per year per hominid on the inside.

Private prison corporations, just like others, have stables of lawyers and lobbyists drafting legislation to further investment returns with an obvious vested interest in higher societal crime rates, higher rates of societal violence, longer sentencing, higher rates of recidivism and more criminalized behaviors. Americans are THE most incarcerated and surveilled population on the planet.

Privatized prisons started out as a pilot program in TN when now senator Lamar Alexander was governor of TN. He and his sweet wife Honey Alexander held stock in CCA, Corrections Corporation of America.

The discussion isn't about for-profit prisons.

The question on the floor is whether failures in our education system contribute significantly to crime and poverty. And, if so, what can we do about it?

 

[ScienceRocks]

With trump and his fascist admin it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Fenton Lum]

School to prison pipeline. A society should never allow for profit prisons with stocks traded on Wall Street. All privatization means is private corporate access to public funding. Then the phone companies pile on. Then the food service companies pile on. And we’re already back to convict leasing; there’s your jobs coming back program, slavery; profiteering from bondage, preying on citizens we no longer have jobs for. And hey, in a post industrial society where people don’t take home enough anymore to float an economy based on mass consumption, the system can turn $40-50K per year per hominid on the inside.

Private prison corporations, just like others, have stables of lawyers and lobbyists drafting legislation to further investment returns with an obvious vested interest in higher societal crime rates, higher rates of societal violence, longer sentencing, higher rates of recidivism and more criminalized behaviors. Americans are THE most incarcerated and surveilled population on the planet.

Privatized prisons started out as a pilot program in TN when now senator Lamar Alexander was governor of TN. He and his sweet wife Honey Alexander held stock in CCA, Corrections Corporation of America.

The discussion isn't about for-profit prisons.

The question on the floor is whether failures in our education system contribute significantly to crime and poverty. And, if so, what can we do about it?

It's all connected. Wall Street will have it's returns, that's your economic system, and you're in a post industrial society; capitalism has moved on to greener pastures and for profit prisons are a growth industry. Schools are being used in american sacrifice zones like ghettos and cities such as Detroit or Camden that capitalism abandoned to insure for profit prisons are profitable and kept full, that's what the school to prison pipelines are all about.

 

[Fenton Lum]

With trump and his fascist admin it wouldn't surprise me.

This started waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay before Don and has been utterly bipartisan.

 

[beagle9]

School to prison pipeline. A society should never allow for profit prisons with stocks traded on Wall Street. All privatization means is private corporate access to public funding. Then the phone companies pile on. Then the food service companies pile on. And we’re already back to convict leasing; there’s your jobs coming back program, slavery; profiteering from bondage, preying on citizens we no longer have jobs for. And hey, in a post industrial society where people don’t take home enough anymore to float an economy based on mass consumption, the system can turn $40-50K per year per hominid on the inside.

Private prison corporations, just like others, have stables of lawyers and lobbyists drafting legislation to further investment returns with an obvious vested interest in higher societal crime rates, higher rates of societal violence, longer sentencing, higher rates of recidivism and more criminalized behaviors. Americans are THE most incarcerated and surveilled population on the planet.

Privatized prisons started out as a pilot program in TN when now senator Lamar Alexander was governor of TN. He and his sweet wife Honey Alexander held stock in CCA, Corrections Corporation of America.

The discussion isn't about for-profit prisons.

The question on the floor is whether failures in our education system contribute significantly to crime and poverty. And, if so, what can we do about it?

It's all connected. Wall Street will have it's returns, that's your economic system, and you're in a post industrial society; capitalism has moved on to greener pastures and for profit prisons are a growth industry. Schools are being used in american sacrifice zones like ghettos and cities such as Detroit or Camden that capitalism abandoned to insure for profit prisons are profitable and kept full, that's what the school to prison pipelines are all about.

. Sadly just as nature has a balance it keeps, so does humans have a balance in which we are supposed to be intelligent enough to keep. When things get out of balance for humans, it is no different than nature being out of balance. Bad things begin to happen.

 

[Spare_change]

With trump and his fascist admin it wouldn't surprise me.

What does Trump have to do with it?