REPLY2

Upon reading Changing Priorities: State Criminal Justice Reforms and Investments in Education by Michael Mitchell and Michael Leachman (2014), it is easy to see how there are both advantages and disadvantages to the consideration of reducing funds in corrections in order to increase the funds in early childhood education. A positive aspect of this consideration is that the added income to early childhood education can lead to more preschools in an area as well as better education programs within these pre-schools. This could be a major improvement for low-income families, where research has shown that these children who attend pre-school have greater cognitive abilities. They even tend to earn more upon adulthood (Leachman & Mitchell, 2014). Another positive benefit would be that more funding into early education could mean smaller class sizes in larger inner city schools. By reducing the classroom size, each student receives a greater amount of individualized attention, leading to these students having a higher amount of achievement (Leachman & Mitchell, 2014).