Should Alaska spend more on prisoners than students?

On Thursday, the Senate passed Senate Bill 56, which would revise sentencing laws for first-time, small quantity, non-distributive drug offenses.

This vote also acknowledges that while drug possession is serious, treating drug offenses with a one-size-fits all legal approach has fiscal impacts for our state’s correctional system.

According to a report from former Alaska Deputy Commissioner of Corrections Carmen Gutierrez, Alaska’s prison population is growing at one of the fastest rates in the nation, largely due to non-violent offenders.

Without some reduction in the rate of incarceration, the Corrections estimates the new $250 million Goose Creek Correctional Center will be full in three years.

We agree with the need to stem the skyrocketing numbers of incarcerated Alaskans and hope the House concurs when it considers the bill. But there is more to this.

Think about this: the Department of Corrections estimates the cost of keeping an inmate behind bars is around $135 per day, or $49,275 annually. Said another way, that’s more than triple what Alaska spent per pupil on education; in 2012-13, per pupil spending was $15,552.

But let’s set that aside and look at how Alaska’s prison population has changed in the past three decades — there are five times more people in our state prison system in 2007 than in 1981. From 2005 to 2012, the DOC budget climbed 5.5 percent.

Though we spend millions annually locking people away from society, DOC says most of them eventually will be released. And of those, a 2011 Alaska Judicial Council study found that two of every three Alaskans released from prison are re-arrested for probation violations, or a new arrest, within three years of release.

“Given these poor outcomes, Alaskans are clearly not receiving good value for the criminal justice dollars spent,” Gutierrez wrote in a letter of support for SB 56.

We agree and think more people should demand better returns on our DOC investments. It should give us all pause that we spend three times as much on prisoners as students without a word of complaint.

We would welcome the voices of parents and business leaders demanding parity for Alaska’s students and insisting the state invest criminal justice dollars with measurable performance outcomes, such as we attach to education funds.

A 2009 Institute of Social and Economic Research study looked at whether the state could reduce future crime and save money by expanding prison-based education and treatment programs. It reviewed several options for savings and found that prison-based education programs offered the best return on investment. The report says the state could save $4,000 per prisoner, per year, by investing $1,000 more per person in education and job training.

We absolutely see worth in educating prisoners, but we are troubled by the lack parity between the education and corrections.

It is our shared shame as Alaskans that while we complain endlessly about the annual per pupil education cost, we silently and complacently spend three times more annually on criminal justice than we invest in our priceless children’s education.