Those numbers are astonishing, and they are unacceptable. We simply cannot stand for an epidemic of violence that robs our youth of their childhood and perpetuates a cycle in which today’s victims become tomorrow’s criminals.

We’re here today to continue a public safety conversation that the Obama Administration started on day one. It has included a law enforcement summit I hosted at the Department of Justice, a White House gang prevention conference, and countless episodes of collaboration with local law enforcement. But it’s not a conversation where we want to do all the talking. We want to listen to educators, parents, and experts in the field, and find out the best ideas for addressing this urgent problem. We’re not interested in just scratching the surface or focusing on generalities, and as we delve into this problem we’re not going to protect any sacred cows. We’re here to learn firsthand what’s happening on our streets so we can devise effective solutions.

Our responses to this issue in the past have been fragmented. The federal government does one thing, states do another, and localities do a third. We need a comprehensive, coordinated approach to address youth violence, one that encompasses the latest research and the freshest approaches. Our administration is committed to implementing such strategies, which is why we’ve asked for $24 million in next year’s budget for community-based crime prevention programs such as Ceasefire and Project Safe Neighborhood. And it’s why our Office of Justice Programs is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide support and assistance to communities affected by violence.

There are no quick and easy fixes. Our approach will need to involve not just law enforcement, but also faith-based organizations, the business community, and social services groups. We will need a combination of prevention, intervention, and targeted enforcement.

Children’s Exposure to Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey

It is our heartfelt belief that the direction education reform is taking has been generated by education myths that are rooted in fear, and the steps being propagated, based on these myths will destroy public education and create a new system of educational segregation in this country; reinforcing the roles of privilege and subordination that already exist.

Parents and Educators who choose to send their children to charter schools and/or work in charter schools are often making a tough choice that they believe is best, and may in fact be best, for them or their child. We, in Red Hook, know many parents who struggled with the decision to put their child in PAVE charter school, and only did so because their other choice, due to zoning, was a failing school. This dilemma is heartbreaking in that all children should have a successful public school they can send their child to, but it is also short-sided. What we take in the short run, another option to counter failing schools, we will pay for in the long run. In this country we always seem to be playing catch-up, we always seek the quick fix. Charter Schools are the new quick fix, and the intended (or if you want to give the benefit of the doubt- the unintended) consequences of this movement will be catastrophic to students without fierce advocates, it will hurt children with special needs and language barriers, and it will damage our collective culture- our society.

All children deserve a great public school option in their neighborhood and that is where the dollars and education reform efforts should be focused. There is more at play here than simply offering parents choice- if what was really desired was successful public schools for all, we wouldn't be promoting a system that will benefit children who win a lottery and hurt the children who don't. We wouldn't be promoting a system that is funded by those with other motives- to privatize education- who believe in the free market with such conviction that capitalism is their operating ideology, even when it comes to social policy.

We have seen in the last year the economic consequences of less regulation. We have seen the consequences of allowing capitalism to go unchecked in our economic policies… why would anyone want to see this repeated with our eduction system? Why, especially, knowing what we know now, are we allowing the corporate world to drive education reform? 1% of the country owns 90% of the wealth and therefore the perceived power, but last we checked this was still a democracy- we have the power of our vote, the power of our voice, and the power in our numbers. Education reform isn't 'sexy', but it is the most important issue in terms of the preservation of our culture and the progress of our citizenry. It is time for parents, educators, and children to mobilize and, even though it is not asked for, make their voices heard… stand up, take back our schools and our neighborhoods and say no to capitalist ideology being the driving force behind education reform.

Capitalism and Social Policy

Up to 250 public schools to be turned over to outside bidders? Called a hostile takeover.

For the first time, and unique among large states, California will soon spend more on its prisons than on its public universities. It has been projected that over the next five years, the state's budget for locking up people will rise by 9 percent annually, compared with its spending on higher education, which will rise only by 5 percent. By the 2012-2013 fiscal year, $15.4 billion will be spent on incarcerating Californians, as compared with $15.3 billion spent on educating them. Yet, despite this historic increase in prison funding, leading legislators — including supporters of the increase — and even Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office agree that this is simply throwing good money after bad, given the rank mismanagement plaguing California's corrections system.

Prison vs. education spending reveals California's priorities

At the same time, YOUR tax dollars must be withheld from education and programs that provide jobs and recreation for our youth, mental health care, outpatient supervision for the mentally ill, drug addiction therapy, and prisoner rehabilitation services, because those programs REDUCE the number of people going to prison and combat recidivism. In addition to public funds for prisons, profiteers earn significant profits from prison labor projects. If you would like to know where many jobs went in this country, check the prisons. Therefore, everything that diverts people from prison threatens prison profiteers' financial gains.

There is much debate regarding prison labor projects. The Center for Research on Globalization carried an article by Vickie Palaez on March 10, 2008, which stated:

According to the Left Business Observer, the federal prison industry produces 100% of all military helmets, ammunition belts, bullet-proof vests, ID tags, shirts, pants, tents, bags, and canteens. Along with war supplies, prison workers supply 98% of the entire market for equipment assembly services; 93% of paints and paintbrushes; 92% of stove assembly; 46% of body armor; 36% of home appliances; 30% of headphones/microphones/speakers; and 21% of office furniture. Airplane parts, medical supplies, and much more: prisoners are even raising seeing-eye dogs for blind people.

Prisons vs Education

The increases in the number of people in some form of correctional control occurred as crime rates declined by about 25 percent in the past two decades.

As states face huge budget shortfalls, prisons, which hold 1.5 million adults, are driving the spending increases.

States have shown a preference for prison spending even though it is cheaper to monitor convicts in community programs, including probation and parole, which require offenders to report to law enforcement officers. A survey of 34 states found that states spent an average of $29,000 a year on prisoners, compared with $1,250 on probationers and $2,750 on parolees. The study found that despite more spending on prisons, recidivism rates remained largely unchanged.

Pew researchers say that as states trim services like education and health care, prison budgets are growing. Those priorities are misguided, the study says.

Prison Spending Outpaces All but Medicaid

If budgets are an annual statement of our values and priorities, then California educators have a lot to ponder. The state budget passed in March 2009 is perhaps the most draconian budget in the state’s history. The agreement mandates $14.8 billion in cuts through June 2010, with the lion’s share—11 billion—coming out of public education, and most of the remainder from social services. On the chopping block is an 8.4 billion cut in K-12, with the rest in post-secondary education. The community colleges—always the most poorly funded segment of post-secondary education—took some cuts but are funded to expand by three percent next year, given our special role during a period of high unemployment. Rising fees at all of California’s post-secondary institutions mean that thousands of qualified students will be turned away. By requiring families and students to pay more each year, California is executing a piecemeal privatization of the largest public education system in the world.

While public education falls under the knife, the state continues to pour money into its massive prison expansion program known as AB900. This law, which was rushed through the Legislature in 2007 without any public hearings and without the public vote ordinarily required for bond issues, calls for $12.4 billion to build 53,000 more prison and jail cells. But building these new cells is a budgetary time bomb, because once they are built, operating them will cost California taxpayers $1.5 billion more every year.

Education or incarceration?(PDF)