Thursday, February 25, 2016
College Education for Inmates?
I was reading quite the interesting article by the editorial board of the New York Times today, giving the argument that inmates in prison need to be offered an education to refrain from ending up back behind bars. The article, "A College Education for Prisoners(published Feb. 16)", ultimately says that if we want to have less people in prison(and less recurring offenders), we need to have programs set in place to give them the job skills they need to enter the "real world". I totally agree with this statement, considering "more than 40% of inmates lack a high school diploma." How are these people, most also living well under the poverty line, supposed to make something of themselves in today's information society? "40% of those who are released return within three years, most for economically driven crimes." As a nation we need to be able to support them in getting the education/jobs they need to succeed(and not go back to prison). A lot, and I mean A LOT, of prison education programs were shut down in the 1990's, so legislators could prove "how tough they were on crime." In New York specifically, prison education programs went down from 70 in the 90's, to just FOUR in 2004. "The number of college degrees awarded to inmates fell from 1,078 in 1991 to 141 in 2011," according to the New York State Bar Association. This just proves how much that makes a difference in the number of return inmates New York receives every year. Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, proposed that out of the $2.8 billion that taxpayers spend on the prison system, to set aside a minute $1 million for prison education programs. Legislature DID NOT like this plan, saying it was "a 'slap in the face' to law-abiding taxpayers," so the proposal was withdrawn. What they didn't know, however, was that the public actually SAVES "$4 to $5 in reimprisonment costs for every $1 it spends on prison education." I believe this is the best way to support inmates in getting the college education and job skills they need to succeed, and ultimately improve the United States as a whole. What do you think?
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I could not agree more with exactly what Alyssa Villalobos comments about in her blog The United States Government 2016. Her approach to the New York Times article about bringing education to those imprisoned is right on point. I really appreciate the feedback she has as she makes her input available right alongside the facts she has acquired. Hearing her perspective gives insight to the injustices we have in our prison systems. We can not overlook this educational opportunity to make people better. Just like one goes to the hospital or rehab the goal is to get better. Why not have the same philosophy for our jails? People who go to jail especially for minor crimes so exit from jail with a better understanding of their world which will help them understand how to live a better life. I enjoyed seeing the facts and numbers, it helped break down the big picture. It is easy to become overwhelmed with unnecessary data. Alyssa is able to simplify the important facts. After reading her blog I felt a new profound feeling that we need to fix this injustice.
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ReplyDeleteThe author of “The United States government 2016” blog caught my attention, simply by reading the title. “College Education for Inmates?”, i've never heard of such thing so decided to read the blog. To my surprise it's was simple, short and interesting. I came to the conclusion that I've never heard of such topic, mostly because it probably doesn't exist anymore. When “The United States government 2016” blog mentions, “The number of college degrees awarded to inmates fell from 1,078 in 1991 to 141 in 2011”. I can only predict that, current numbers are in double digits to none. The author Alyssa Villalobos, expressed her opinions of inmates having the ability to obtain college education, by providing the reader with statistics and her personal opinions. I was intrigued with her argument, I also believe that inmates should have college education. Like she mentions nearly half of them don't have an actual high school diploma. This can lead to low wage jobs, thus making them more vulnerable to criminal activities. For example most of today's “criminals” are incarcerated because of a drugs. This is because they have to provide for themselves and possible families, and a low paying job is not cutting it. And when they do come out it's back to square one, and they will most likely choose the same route. They may choose the same route, because it's the only thing they know of.
All in all I do agree with the education of inmates, but I couldn't be so bias about the topic just by reading statistics. While i do agree I can see where the opposition stands, that being the government. This will mean that nearly half of the inmates will receive college education. Because they other half doesn't have a high school diploma. Would it still be fair for the other half? And let’s say that everyone is does want college education, who will pay for it? And if it comes to the taxpayer, paying it, would it be fair? Would it be fair to those straight A students who actually have to pay to get a college education? And let’s say we live in the perfect world where inmates get their college education. We don't have a statistic, or at least i couldn't find one, saying that those inmates who actually received college education did not go back to jail.
In conclusion I can't stand firmly in one side, although I agree they should receive a college education. I also believe that we, will be giving them to many commodities inside a place they shouldn't.
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ReplyDeleteI found Alyssa Villalobos post “College Education for Inmates" on her blog "The United States Government 2016" quite interesting because I myself had took on a subject quite similar. I could not agree more when it comes to reshaping an inmate before releasing them into the real world. She did a really well job in laying out the issue the side she chose and the proper statistics and facts to back up her position as to why College education is important for inmates. I personally am a firm believer that the people re entering our world from the prison world should be prepared to re establish their life, they should at least have the option to even if they are bound to get locked up again, the few that want a new start should be able to stand up on their feet again and be intellectually capable to do that. With how fast our technology is expanding and changing imagine being isolated for five years and being introduced to it all at once. It is simply terrifying. What I admired most about this post is how Alyssa backed up her position and constructed a convincing argument.
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