Duncan states how he would like to dramatically reduce incarceration for nonviolent crimes. He proposed that there could be about $15 billion that could be saved here. He would like to distribute this money to teachers in high-poverty school districts. These reforms would mostly occur with non-violent offenders and people who received low-level drug charges. I think this could help out our country a lot. By giving teachers more pay they might be more likely to work in lower income schools therefore giving these kids a better chance to thrive and see that people care about their futures. About 40% of low-income schools don't get a fair share of state and local funds, making it difficult for teachers to get decent salaries and supplies, affecting the entire school system. In addition to this as of September 30, 2014 there are 95,800 (50%) of inmates are serving time for drug offenses. If reformed these people could be granted a second chance sooner for low-level crimes like marijuana possession or use in public. While there are some people that most likely should stay behind bars, many low-level offenders have just made mistakes and are harmless. This reform could bring about many positive changes.
Increased pay to increase will be ideal because it would motivate teachers to take job in low income school and have enough resources to teach their students. However, who will choose which criminals will be let out sooner and what are offenses are considered low compared to other offenses. Also, what states will be involved in his plan. This could be a problem in Duncan's plan.
