EXCERPT FROM: Volunteer TV
By Amber Miller
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Future crime could be headed to your neighborhood if you and the state of Tennessee don't take Pre-K more seriously.
That's what the D.A.'s office and police told Volunteer TV Tuesday.
A study done in 1993 shows that 7% of at-risk youth who attend a high-quality pre-school program become chronic law breakers, but that number jumps to 35% for those who did not attend a program.
"We've got to get smarter on crime," Attorney General Randy Nichols said.
As the new school year begins, he and police feel it's important that you know statistics prove there is a strong connection between crime and the absence of high-quality early education.
"We look at ability to read in the third grade to plan for our prison population," Nichols told WVLT.
To keep crime away from your doorstep and your children away from crime, it is crucial for all of us to take an interest in getting our kids into school as early as possible.
"We believe that investing in Pre-K is not only an investment in the future, but it is a cost-savings to us now," Knoxville Police Chief Sterling Owen said.
In Knox County, it costs $76 a day to house adult prisoners, but it costs $200 dollars a day to house juveniles.
Children cost more to incarcerate because the juvenile system is supposed to act more like rehabilitation than punishment, so there is counseling and education services.
Members of a non-profit group called Fight Crime: Invest in Kids believes if Tennessee would place greater emphasis on Pre-K, we would save $160 Million a year because it would reduce the Special Education budget by 10% and cut down on grade repetition.
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids also says 40% of children who are enrolled in Special Education services might not be there if they attended a strong Pre-K.
According to the non-profit, the state spends $800 Million on Special Ed annually and only $84 Million in state funded Pre-Kindergarten programs.
"We're about to become the seventh state in America that spends more on their prisons than they do on higher education," General Nichols said shaking his head. "That is just totally unacceptable."