Ratio Reveals Priorities

I heard the Cook County (Chicago) sheriff on NPR's Weekend Edition this morning describing how the county jail dealt with the city's giant snowstorm last week.

At one point he said the jail is almost like a small town, with 10,000 residents and 4,000 staff. That's a 2.5 : 1 ratio.

If the student-to-teacher ratio in public schools was even five times that, I imagine there would be a lot fewer residents in the jail.