Money spent on prisons is money not spent on schools, libraries or parks. This score measures how a state's priorities affect its residents' hopes for the future. Most importantly, it measures whether the next generation has the tools to succeed. This score combines two different measures, weighted equally. The first measure is the percentage of teens who dropped out of high school.
Most people recognize that education is necessary for people to succeed in today's society.
Less than a quarter of state prison inmates have graduated from high school. The percentage of children graduating from high school suggests the state's ability to succeed in the future. It also indicates collateral issues such as the school's attention to each child, drug use among students, teenage pregnancy, parental involvement, and many other factors that affect public well-being. The second measure is the salary ratio between public school teachers and prison guards. This indicates how the state prioritizes its resources and what kind of job it encourages talented people to seek.