Why pay for empty beds in prisons?

There are 111 prisons in Texas, and $123 million of our tax dollars are spent on leasing beds from private prison companies each year. As mentioned in this article in the Austin American Statesman, there are 10,000 unused bunks in these prisons. This is due to the lowering crime rates and lowering number of incarcerations. The declines are expected to continue, as Texas is focusing more on putting convicts in rehabs and community-based programs instead of prisons.

The editorial board at the Statesman takes a firm stance on this issue- claiming this $123 million "is money poorly spent that could be redirected elsewhere". They see the empty beds as an opportunity to close even more prisons and end contracts with private prison companies. 

One reason that the State is having a hard time closing prisons is because prisons means jobs for the community. But, research shows there is a 90% turn -over rate for prison employees because of the low pay and job benefits. If more prisons were consolidated, that would mean a portion of that $123 million could be spent on prison employee raises- which would reduce the high turn-over rate and help "stabilize prison employment." 

I completely agree with the editorial board in their claim that "every dollar misspent on prisons is a dollar kept from education, health care, and... public safety and fighting crime." It seems to me a matter of common sense. Why pay for something unneccessary whenever there are so many other things that need to be paid for? Especially if it's with other people's money (tax payers)? The Statesman makes a clear argument that even the employment that the prison provides could be greatly improved and stabilized if this $123 million was redirected. Texas is a state in great need of a larger budget for public services, and this- to me- appears to be money just waiting to be used on things that really matter. 

AISD to open single-sex schools

On January 28, 2013, The Austin Chronicle  announced that the AISD's board of trustees added three new single-sex schools on the East side of Austin. These schools are intended to serve as "safe havens" for minority youth. The general idea was to first take the general attendance of Pearce and Garcia middle schools and combine them, and then split them along gender lines. This plan was proposed by a trustee to the AISD board, but nothing ever came of it until recently. It seems like there wasn't an alternate plan at all- that this was going to happen either way.
Apparently, there is evidence that shows that single-sex schools don't actually help people learn, and they typically reinforce gender stereotypes, as well as cause problems for transgendered people. Another issue is transportation for the students in those districts that don't want to attend a same-sex school.
This article caught my eye because I spend a lot of time volunteering at a local feminist-modeled women's shelter and am very interested in women/gender issues. I've also gotten to know a small portion of the transgendered community in Austin recently, and these kinds of local government decisions have huge implications in their lives. It seems like by now, AISD should be able to take a step back and see that history tells us same-sex schools don't work. And on top of that,  they should have the ability to see all of the almost guaranteed negative repercussions of this decision.