I had a few thoughts when I came across this advertisement in the local Tacoma paper the other day. Due to the bold printing on the opposite side of this ad, the first thing I noticed was that it appeared that the white corrections officer had a black eye. When I first saw his eye I thought, "Wow, that's honest advertising." The next thing I noticed was that the Asian guy in the foreground kind of reminded me of the villain Chong Li in the movie Bloodsport. Then I read the ad and was surprised to learn that a corrections deputy with a GED makes more annually than a teacher with a master's degree. I'm not demeaning this career; I'm sure it's tough, regimented and at times dangerous. But what does it say about our society when we pay people more to watch our prisoners than to educate our youth. At the same time, these prison jobs wouldn't exist if teachers and parents did their jobs. The thought I'm left with is, is it a good idea to put a person in a position where they have so much power over others when they couldn't even finish high school (and I say that as a person who hated high school)? Does earning a GED or even a high school diploma provide you with the advanced critical thinking skills that are essential in jobs like corrections or policing?
