ACTION: Education Funds Are Not for Prison Construction
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What is the problem?
News recently broke that Alabama Governor Kay Ivey plans to take $100 million away from the state’s education fund and use it to build prisons instead. Soon, state legislators will cast votes to approve – or reject – this proposal.
Why does it matter?
Alabama has made important progress in recent years, but we continue to trail behind the rest of the nation when it comes to education outcomes. Our students score below the national average in reading, math, science, and writing. Our state invests less money per student than 46 other states, who better prioritize investment in K-12 education. Our school teachers are underpaid and often have to spend hundreds of dollars out-of-pocket for school supplies, or else raise money on GoFundMe to make sure that Alabama classrooms have enough pencils, books, and computers. By taking $100,000,000 from Alabama’s education funds to subsidize the ever-increasing cost of prison construction, Governor Ivey is taking from our kids, our communities, and our state’s future. We cannot silently sit by and allow this to happen.
How can I help? You can use this online portal to send letters to your state legislators urging them to reject this incredible misappropriation of funds. Once you send those letters, you can share this portal with other people in your community so that they can contact their lawmakers, too. Our elected officials need to know: we will not stand for education dollars being wasted on building a billion-dollar prison.