from govt schools to govt prisons

I give a lot of time to school choice as a primary factor in our expensive, low-quality, restricted-choice government elementary and secondary education system. It's the most important factor that we could change easily (outside of political interests).

But the most important factor, overall, is social disintegration, and in particular, the dissolution of two-parent households among the poor and middle class.

A sad piece from four authors in the C-J...

One of the most alarming trends affecting our children today is what has become known as the “school to prison pipeline,” a term used to describe an all too common reality for poor-performing students. First they are academically unsuccessful, then their misbehavior results in school disciplinary action, then their misbehavior puts them into the juvenile justice system, then they leave school prematurely and eventually end up as incarcerated adults....

In Kentucky, an estimated 33 percent of juvenile court cases are initiated in schools.

In the Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), 25 percent of students who begin high school do not graduate.

Nationally, students who do not graduate are three times more likely to be incarcerated....