Residents urged to vote yes to Franklin schools ballot question
To the editor:
On May 7th of this year, voters will be asked to approve a 23 cent per hundred dollar of assessed value to fund academic and educational related programs including: lowering class sizes, improving safety initiatives, providing additional assistance in regards to students’ mental health and attracting and retaining teachers for the Franklin Community School Corp. Please consider voting yes to this question for three reasons: 1) lower crime rates 2) costs savings 3) a better local community in Franklin, Indiana.
According to a study by the Alliance for Excellent Education July 12, 2016 volume 16 No. 14, crime rates will be lowered with more spending on education. Sixty-nine percent of inmates in local jails did not complete high school. A 5 percent increase in the male graduation rate would decrease the annual number of assaults by 60,000, larceny and burglary by 54,000, prevent 1,300 murders, and 3,800 instances of rape.
Investing in education does pay off, and I hope that most people would agree that crime does not. According the same study, state and local government spending on prison and jails has increased more than three times faster than spending on education, yet local correction facilities have seen the number of incarcerated people grow from 490,000 in 1980 to over 2 million in 2014.
In my opinion, if more dollars were spent on education and schooling, then fewer dollars would need to be spent on jails and prisons. According to this article, that same 5 percent increase in male graduation could save 18.5 billion dollars in annual crime costs. The request for 23 cents per hundred seems like a large amount of money to the average person, but the long-term results would more than pay for the additional costs.
On a local level, according to the Daily Journal, the largest drug sweep in state history occurred in Johnson County on Nov. 8, 2018. Sixty-one of 120 suspected drug dealers were found and arrested. According to dualdiagnosis.org, a person’s level of education is strongly linked to substance abuse tendencies. Mental health, which is specifically called out in the request, is also one of the biggest risk factors in substance abuse. Twenty-nine percent of all people diagnosed with mental health disorders also abuse drugs and alcohol.
I believe that improved mental health services at a young age would reduce the drug abuse problem we have in Johnson County and in the nation as a whole. I urge you to vote yes to this question in this year’s May election. By agreeing to this request, we have a chance to improve our surroundings for generations to come. By not agreeing to this request, the continued upward trend in crime and drug abuse will persist in our community. Please don’t let this opportunity pass you by. Vote yes on May 7th!
John Byerly
Franklin
