Timothy Wiggins is a senior journalism and communications major at Hampton University.

In a 2010 study done by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development of 34 countries, the US did not rank in the top 10 in math, reading, or science. Some scholars believe that this failing education system is a result of the federal government using the prison system to exploit young black men and poor whites for cheap labor.

The fact that failing school systems lead to higher incarceration rates is widely known by many. And given the number of businesses profiting off of prison labor production, it seems as if certain members of society are being targeted to turn profits for large companies.

As a result of the current education crisis, the need for an education system that allows for American students to compete globally is clear. For many racial minorities and working class families, the ideal educational option has been and remains the historically black college or university. With many states having made or proposing significant cuts to these institutions, the nation’s gateway to increased global productivity and economic recovery is greatly diminished, and enhances the partisan politics that fuels rhetoric on the legitimacy of HBCUs.

With black men making up more than 40% of the current prison population, the country needs to implement educational opportunities that will benefit individuals who are otherwise likely to join the growing national prison population. HBCUs, with many campuses featuring black male initiatives and academic enrichment through TRIO, Upward Bound and HBCU-UP programs, are a critical element for the nation’s degree completion objectives, and a serious counter to its growing industry of prison-based labor.

In the midst of the nation’s current education crisis, more attention should be focused on strengthening schools and offering higher education opportunities for members of the middle and lower classes. Such an endeavor would likely lower crime rates across the board.

With 1 and every 100 Americans incarcerated, the US has the world’s largest prison population (World Prison Population list). One of the reasons that many Americans don’t complain about the amount of people imprisoned is because of the amount of jobs it has created over the years. Michelle Alexander, Associate Professor of Law at Ohio State University and author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, points to the growth of jobs through mass imprisonment as one as the reasons why such an injustice is overlooked.

“If we (the US) were to return prison populations to 1970 levels, before the War on Drugs began…more than a million people working in the system would see their jobs disappear,” said Alexander. Meanwhile, the infamous “War on Drugs” has only depleted the strength of the black community while imprisoning thousands of African-Americans, Hispanics, and poor whites for non-violent offenses.

Instead of pipelining young blacks and poor whites into a system in which they are stripped of their rights and exploited for capital gains, the government needs to fight the education crisis within America. If the US were to attack the education crisis with the same vigor in which it has been executing the “War on Drugs,” crime rates amongst minorities would greatly decrease. In 2008, only 57% of African-American and Hispanic students graduated from high school (US Department of Education).

With blacks and Hispanics comprising more than half of the current prison population, the country needs to implement educational opportunities that will benefit those who are otherwise likely to fall victim to this growing population.

Given the ease with which our country has waged war against Iraq, Afghanistan, and drugs, this is a time in which the needs of our education system should be met with equal vigilance and determination.

Why not have a war on education? Our best battleground strongholds, historically black colleges and universities, are prepared for the fight ahead.