Prison Education System

The article "The Impact of Career and Technical Education Programs on Adult Offenders: Learning Behind Bars" by Howard Gordon and Bracie Weldon (2003) studies of how prisoners receiving educations in prison reduces the recidivism rate. Gordon and Weldon studied the inmates who were participating in the educational programs at the Huttonsville Correctional Center in West Virginia and claimed that inmates who participated in the educational programs were less likely to recidivate once released back into the population as compared to inmates who did not participate in these programs (Gordon & Weldon, 2003). This study provides valuable information as to the effectiveness of educational programs in prison and how they affect prisoner's lives

     “It is not a surprise to see that prisoners all have a low education level. I guess a more educated person has enough sense not to be involved with crime…the relationship between crime and education is easy to see when viewing these facts” (Cordes 1). This is the view of most people when asked why people are in prison. People simply say that criminals were ill educated. As hard as we may try, we cannot do a lot about what happens before they enter prison, but there are many programs inside prisons to help rehabilitate them for when they leave the prison.

Most students exposed to the school-to-prison-pipeline are minority, or students who have history of poverty, or students with disabilities. I believe there are other consequences for misbehaved students. The new “zero tolerance” policy criminalize minor infractions of school rules, while cops in schools lead to students being criminalized for behavior that should be handled inside the school. “For most students, the pipeline begins with the inadequate resources in public schools. Overcrowded classrooms, a lack of qualified teachers, and insufficient funding for “extras” such as counselors, special education services, and even textbooks, lock students into second-rate educational environments. This failure to meet educational needs increases

Free counseling, free shelter, free medical care, free exercise equipment, free meals, free religious serices, and free education, sounds like a dream. It also sounds like prison. Inmates get the chance to get collage education and thier GED, free. Prisoners don’t deserve the advantage some good people arent able to obtain due to money issues. The governments money is already spending an excessive amount of moeny on prisons, also just because they get a collage degree, for free, doesnt give the punishment they deserve. Inmates should not be allowed an education past the highschool level.

Proceedings of The National Conference On Undergraduate Research (NCUR) 2009 University of Wisconsin La-Crosse La-Crosse, Wisconsin April 16 - 18, 2009

In 2007, the Bureau of Justice Statistics proved that 41% of prisoners did not graduate high school (Shippen, 2008, pg. 339). Dismantling the school-to-prison system in the United States, through using literacy education in and out of prison, will dramatically reduce the amount of young adults that will end up behind bars. Many young people think that being punished and that constantly being in trouble is a normal part of their lives, this is where the school-to-prison pipeline becomes such an issue. The way in which this problem can be solved is to provide a good foundation of reading and writing for students whilst in school and also if they do go to prison it should

Creating positive influences on our prisoners can reap many more benefits than just educating and releasing back into society. Just as we invest money to educate our children, we can reinvest money to target populations that our prisoners come from to prevent crimes. When we teach them new skills that can better their lives, they can then teach others by example. Once an inmate enters back into society and gets a job in his or her field, stays away from crime, and makes better choices, they can make a positive impact on their communities. Younger generations can see the encouraging example set forth and know that they too can make wiser decisions and hope for the

“Tomorrow 's future is in the hands of the youth of today” is not a particularly new sentiment. But what is new, what has become a pressing question, is what is to become of the future if our youth are behind bars instead of in schools? Youth today are being pushed into the criminal justice system at an alarming rate. This issue is known as the school to prison pipeline ─ the rapid rate at which children are pushed out of schools and into the criminal justice system. The school to prison pipeline is a term that came into use by activists in the late 1970’s and has gained recognition throughout the years as the issue became more prominent in the 1990’s. Some activists view policies meant to “correct” misbehaviors, especially in regards to Zero Tolerance policies and the policing of schools, as a major contributor to the pipeline. Others believe that the funding of schools and the education standards are to blame for the rapid increase of youth incarcerations. While the school to prison pipeline affects every student, African American students, both male and female, are more often the victim of discrimination in education. The school to prison pipeline must end, and the trend must be reversed.

Inmates need to be educated and rehabilitated in order to be released back into society. If prisoners receive a good education they are less likely to commit misconduct in the future. The Three State Recidivism Study

The correctional educational programs plays a role in reducing recidivism. Recidivism remains high nationally, with four in 10 inmates returning to prison within three years of release. Most inmate that goes to prison had less education than the general population. I feel that it's

The government is responsible for security of its citizens and it is also responsible to provide a safe socio-economic environment to its people, and in this context; Jails and schools are two important institutions of any society, which need regular monetary support from the government. Thus government has to be very careful in allocating funds to both of the institutions; as one punishes the convicts and other makes the people skillful, and wise enough to get a job and earn money for family. Government has to be very careful in allocation of funds to them, as it is very critical to decide which institution should be allocated more money. The report, “Prison Spending Affecting Higher

Social workers must be cognizant of the various risk factors that potentially affect the adolescence developmental stage. Therefore, it is important that social workers are aware of school practices that incite the devastating process of school-to-prison pipeline which push students particularly students of color and students with disabilities out of the classrooms into the juvenile criminal justice system. Moreover, social workers must understand the risk factors that affect quality education and equality. Therefore, Social workers must continue to work towards changing adverse school policies through, advocacy, legislation reform, and societal awareness.

With mandatory requirements, many detention centers lack the proper educators to educate the youth in detention centers due to the lack of training in educating students with learning and behavior disorders. When “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) was mandated by the federal government, children in the juvenile system lacked a portion of the state curriculum due to facilities not having the appropriate material such as textbooks, computer software, designated classrooms, and much more. Many delinquents suffer education wise, because of the shortcomings of the facilities they reside in currently. Another issue that contributes to youth having a lack of education in detention centers is due to the teacher of public schools and teachers of detention

I taught inmates how to read using cuss words. As a literacy tutor in a community based correctional facility early in my career, I found that most of my students could not write their names or recite the alphabet. Yet somehow they could all spell expletives. Unconventional though it was, I used this epiphany to my advantage in teaching my students how to read and spell. If you can spell and read “F*&$!”, then by golly you can read and spell “truck”, “duck” and “luck”.

Offering classes to convicts while in prison and informing them of the dangers of drug abuse, would ultimately reduce the reincarceration rate when they are released. Throughout the documentary, “The War on Drugs”, there was a segment in which former convicts are actually attending college classes. There was around 25 of them that had attended the classes focused on wood technology. Because of these college classes, only 2 out of the 25 had returned to prison within the year, and the remaining 23 had found stable jobs to support themselves (“The War on Drugs”). This kind of success should not go unnoticed, college classes in prison should be implemented across the entire nation. By expanding the knowledge of convicts when they are in prison,