EVERETT, Wash. - The Snohomish County sheriff and prosecutor have a strong message for parents and children: Take your schooling seriously, especially during the early years.
?At a 10 a.m. news conference scheduled Wednesday in Everett, they will release the findings of research that shows early education can play a significant role in keeping at-risk kids from growing up into criminals.
Research reveals that when children five years old and younger participate in quality early learning programs, they stand a dramatically lower chance of ending up incarcerated as adults.
Right now, the Snohomish County Jail is filled to capacity with roughly 1,200 inmates, and the sheriff says roughly 30% of them do not have a high school diploma.
"It's very clear to me," said Snohomish County Sheriff John Lovick, "that if we get our kids educated, keep them in school, we believe, and numbers have shown, that the crime rate goes down because kids are learning and they're in school."
Lovick and other law enforcement officials will share the findings of several studies that reveal some sobering statistics. ?For example, high school dropouts are three and half times more likely to be arrested as high school graduates, and more than eight times as likely to be in jail or prison.
Meanwhile, kids who participate in high quality preschool programs increase their chances of graduating high school by as much as 44%.
Lovick says just a 10% increase in male graduation rates translates into $100 million in annual crime related savings.
"As fast as we build a prison, we can fill that prison," he said. "So I say let's work very hard on building schools and keeping kids in schools instead of building prisons."
He says taxpayers pay either way, but he urges people to spend the money now positive programs rather than later on for punishment.
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