Monday’s letter to the editor, “Public education: Let’s put schools before prisons,” includes this sentence, “Why are we paying more to take care of inmates than to educate our own children?”
A little thought would answer that question. Most students pay for one meal (lunch) while inmates have to be fed three times a day. Children go home after school, while we pay to house inmates 24 hours a day. Parents pay for their child’s doctor bills, while inmates get free medical care. Clothing for inmates is paid for with tax money, while families pay for school children’s clothes. Indigent inmates get free postage, children do not. Children are watched by parents at night, while trained officers watch inmates. There is a cost to provide linen for beds to inmates, besides the laundering of the sheets. Families pay for their own linens.
I could go on and on, but I think my point has been made. Bumper sticker quotes are cute, but rarely well thought out.
Tom Tangen
Edmonds
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