
The United States Criminal Justice System has been a topic of major controversy for decades.  There are many different angles one could look at this system from to find where this controversy exists.  One important angle is from a fiscal standpoint, and more specifically how that effects our education system. Our state government's pour copious amounts of money into funding the several programs of criminal justice, however, it seems as though the backlash of this goes unnoticed. Although one does not have to look far to see the outcome, it resides in neighborhoods, schools, and communities as a whole. This is an issue not many Americans are extremely informed on, which can be a reason as to why little to none reform has been made. If more people are aware of how much money the government is tossing into the furnace to fuel this broken system, then they can act as a catalyst to start the change needed.

I have always had certain thoughts about the policies our criminal justice system carries and actively believed that reform was crucial. This research question explores why we need this change, not only by formulating opinions but also by structuring well formed statistical analyses that strengthen the argument. I will look into the work others have made in connecting these two systems of education and justice.  Showing reliable evidence is important when arguing about such a deep topic. While this question does not affect me personally for the moment, it does correlate to my values.  Education is the backbone to a nation, and needs to be at the forefront of government priorities.  Dumping money into harboring low-offense, nonviolent criminals who are serving unjustified long sentences, instead of using that money to aid low funded schools is a huge problem. I have no personal experience regarding this topic to express, however I feel that our country will be greatly affected if reforms aren't made. Therefore, I believe I can be personally affected in the near future. I have no specific past credibility that enables me to claim that I am perfectly qualified to write about this subject, but using credible sources to form by argument helps present my ideas in the most ethical way.

The first source that pertains to this research question is an online article written by Michael Mitchell and Michael Leachman, Changing Priorities: State Criminal Justice Reforms and Investments in Education. The central claim in their work is that state criminal justice reforms need to occur, and how those reforms can help investments in our education system.  The evidence they provide include statistics on the increasing rates of incarceration, the effects these rates have on communities, and how underfunding education in low income neighborhoods result in these increase of arrests. The stakeholders are the people who are effected by this topic. These can span from the people in underprivileged communities, the people spending to much time for low offenses, all the way to average tax payers.  Michael Mitchell is an expert and analysis on state fiscal policy, and Michael Leachman is the Director of State Fiscal Research who has investigated multiple different fiscal policies and their effects, and holds a Ph.D. in sociology. This supports their credibility and knowledge on the topic, as well as shows their bias for searching for the most efficient economical policies.  

The next source that revolves around this topic holds a strong resemblance to the last. The article, Changing Priorities: State Criminal Justice Reforms and Investments in Education, is written by Steven Hawkins who argues "More money must go to schools than to prisons before high-crime neighborhoods can truly be reformed." (Hawkins) He shows studies that connect high incarceration rates to low funded areas, and vice versa.  He also presents statistics on how overcrowded jails are from the overspending by the government to fund the justice system. The stakeholders in his claims are directed towards low funded areas and the people who reside in them.  Steven W. Hawkins is an American social justice leader who has held many high positions in social programs including Director of Amnesty International USA and executive VP of NAACP.  His credentials that relate to the subject shape his credibility in a positive way showing that he is experienced in social issues.

 The last source focuses its lens more directly at higher level education. David Brodwin's article is featured on usnews.com, who claims that high prison and jail costs are raising tuition prices, and ultimately hurting economic growth. He uses the two states of North Carolina and Michigan and their two different proportions of spending to highlight his argument on the effect this spending has on the economy. Michigan, who spends more on incarcerating people has a much higher tuition cost, parallel to that, North Carolina spends more money funding education and therefore produces a stronger workforce that fuels the economy. The future of the United States relies on the strength of the education system, and spending more money funding people to stay in prison, than towards college education cripples our future in a negative way. The stakeholders that pertain to this article are those who are attending or plan to attend college. David Brodwin is a cofounder and board member of American Sustainable Business Council. He has experience writing many pieces on economic policies and sustainability which is important with trusting a source. 

The research question at hand has a variety of different perspectives that can be formed when sculpting an opinion. The question is arguable because someone could oppose any change in the amount of funding the state governments provide involving education and the justice system. One could believe that we are at the perfect proportion in regard to state spending.  I have mostly agreed with the authors of these sources, and they seem to compliment each other as well.  The perspective that all these sources looked at the question through was that of an analytical view point. Therefore, the facts and information that was around their arguments narrowed my own perspective on the matter. One revision that could benefit my research would be to study the effects of lowering the funding of prisons in regard to other programs, instead of solely education. This would result in gaining a full perspective on the issue to be better informed when writing my paper.  

