Law enforcement officials tout importance of education in preventing crime in the future

CEDAR RAPIDS - A quality education for children can provide the key to avoid turning to crime later in life, area law enforcement leaders said at an event earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman, Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner, Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa Kevin Techau, in conjunction with the Cedar Rapids Community School District and Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, released Fight Crime's report, Doing Well Prevents Doing Time. The report outlines a link between receiving a poor education, earning a lower salary later in life and turning to crime.

According to the report, seven out of 10 inmates in state prisons nationwide do not have a high school diploma. In Iowa, 17 percent of all inmates did not graduate from high school.

The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that, in 2009, among those under 25 with no high school diploma, the unemployment rate was 29 percent and average earnings were only $18,300.

'This means that too many young men are finding it economically worth the risk to make money illegally or are occupying their time in ways that bring them into contact with us in law enforcement,” the report reads.

According to the report, which cites data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 36 percent of Iowa's eighth-graders are proficient in math, 37 percent in reading and 35 percent in science. Ten percent of Iowa's high school freshmen do not graduate within four years and 19 percent of graduates who attempt to join the Army cannot pass the military's entrance exam.

The report stresses the importance of Iowa Core education standards, which emphasize developing 'deeper learning skills” in students.

'Public safety is my top priority,” Gardner said in the release announcing the report. 'But I know we can't arrest and prosecute our way out of crime problems. Students who are prepared for postsecondary education careers will be far less likely to run afoul of the law and far more likely to contribute to our communities and our economy in the coming years.”