D.A.’s Urge Lawmakers for Funds for Early Education Programs

D.A.’s Urge Lawmakers for Funds for Early Education Programs

By Cindy Scharr, Delaware County Daily Times

CHESTER — District attorneys from Southeastern Pennsylvania on Wednesday urged state and federal lawmakers to increase funding for early education programs for at-risk children in an effort to boost high school graduation rates and reduce the prison population.

“We can continue with the status quo, which is leading too many people to failure in school, involvement in crime, and incarceration at huge cost to Pennsylvania taxpayers,” said Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan, standing in front of the State Correctional Institution in Chester. “Or we can take a different course, leading more kids to success in school, increased high school graduation, and savings to taxpayers for years to come.”

Whelan said that in Pennsylvania, $1.9 billion is spent each year to house approximately 500,000 prison inmates. In Delaware County alone, he said, it costs taxpayers about $45 million to fund Delaware County prison.

Whelan, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, Philadelphia District Attorney R. Seth Williams, Chester County District Attorney Thomas Hogan, and Cumberland County District Attorney David J. Freed, President of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, spoke at the event sponsored by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids organization.

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(First published by Delaware County Daily Times)

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