Prisons are robbing schools

Re “Education cuts are made at our peril,” Opinion, Nov. 17

Makdisi rightly points out that by increasing prison spending and cutting education spending, we have our priorities backward.

Literacy rates in our prisons are at rock bottom. According to corrections department figures, two-thirds of California’s inmates read below ninth-grade level, more than half read below seventh-grade level, and roughly one-fifth read below third-grade level. Kids without reading skills are clearly at risk.

I’d like to believe that we’d all give up a latte or two to put our tax dollars toward a healthy society. Investing in education isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.

Michael Lombardo

Los Angeles