Apparently, orange is the new red.

According to the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, in 2006 the state of Wisconsin spent more than seven times as much money on prison inmates than college students. As a state, we spent 40 percent above the national average on our prison system, but we are 12 percent below the national average on education from 2000 through 2004. If I am interpreting these facts correctly, prisoners currently have financial priority over students.

If we were to measure the state?s priorities merely by budgetary appropriations, the University of Wisconsin System would appear to reside at the bottom of the priority totem pole.

But perhaps there is a reason why the prison system was favored above that of higher education. Surely this allocation of resources has developed one of the most innovative prison systems in the nation.

Well, Dane County is third in terms of one ranking. However, placing third in this context is embarrassing.

Dane County is the third worst prison system in regard to racial disparity. For every one white person incarcerated, there were 97 African-American citizens incarcerated for the same offense. The county?s system is beaten only by Forsyth County in North Carolina and Onondaga County in New York.

This statistic is disgraceful but not the end to the prison system woes of Wisconsin. Dane County jails, among several others, are continuously overcrowded. The state is hardly doing much to combat this problem either.

For the funding the Wisconsin prison system receives from the state, it should have implemented several rehabilitation initiatives. In the case of the Day Report and Treatment program, for example, inmates will receive treatment for alcohol and substance abuse, a common issue within the prison system. According to the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance, ?it is estimated that there will be a 45 percent reduction in pre-trial jail days served by DART participants, greatly reducing county jail costs.? And yet this program does not receive a large percentage of the funding allocated toward jails and prisons.

California has taken the lead in implementing and incorporating innovative rehabilitation efforts through legislation such as the Prisoner Rehabilitation Act of 2008, as well as programs such as Second Chance and the Insight Prison Project. These initiatives should make their way to Wisconsin if the state is going to continue to prioritize inmates above coeds.

As much as I would like to see the prison system revamped for the amount of money that is being spent on it, I would rather have the state, or specifically the legislators of Wisconsin, recognize the relationship between accessibility of higher education and the overcrowded prisons.

If postsecondary institutions were more accessible and more affordable, a greater percentage of citizens would deem it a possibility to attend. If this were the case, there would be less incentive to participate in illegal activities because college would be a plausible future destination.

The more Wisconsin invests in the development of human capital, the greater the tax revenues for the state and

local governments. According to Collegeboard.com, a high school graduate who enters the full-time workforce, on average, contributes approximately $6,600 in taxes. On the other hand, an individual who holds a bachelor?s degree will contribute $11,900 in taxes.

The economic benefits of a more educated public are apparent. It would make sense, then, to educate those who appear to have fallen the most from society?s graces ? prison inmates ? so they too can contribute to society in a positive way.

If the state of Wisconsin deems the prison system a priority, it is time for a serious update. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, in 2007 ?it cost Wisconsin taxpayers an average of $27,800 to house a prison inmate for a year.? The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor states, ?the average student graduates with $17,500 in loan debt.?

It?s obvious there is more than a little reevaluation that must take place.

Hannah Karns ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science and international studies.