LOUISVILLE, Ky.-- As the number of inmates in Kentucky rises, so does the cost to incarcerate them. The tax-funded punishment to house inmates surpasses spending on other public services, like education. 

For a single inmate in FY 2018, incarceration cost an average of $24,454.20. John Tilley is the Secretary of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, and he says that the department's funding request must grow as the inmate population does.

"We are housing so many inmates. If we could get our inmate count under control, we'd have plenty of money," said Tilley.

Compare that to the number in statewide spending per student- all funding sources including grants and federal dollars-in school year 2017-2018, at $13,887. 

"It should be the reverse, you know, but instead we're funding prisons," said Kentucky 2019 Teacher of the Year Jessica Dueñas. "We're investing more in incarcerating people, when we should be investing more into educating people so that they can find ways to avoid going to prison."

Education Commissioner Wayne Lewis notes that pupils do not go to school 365 days each year, as some inmates are housed every day of the year; he says local funding varies by school district, too. 

"You would hope that we have a situation where frankly from my perspective we're spending less on incarcerating people and incarcerating a whole fewer people," Dr. Lewis said.

Former inmate- now parent- Alaina Combs feels spending priorities should be rethought.

"We're warehousing [inmates] in these institutions and we're providing all their basic human needs. And it costs a lot to do that. It costs a lot of money, but we're not creating productive human beings out of that," Combs said, "we have to ask ourselves a question, like what are we really investing in? But when we invest in things like education and community resources for people, we're investing in people."

To learn more about funding the corrections department, view this spreadsheet. You can see school funding breakdowns here.