By Erinn Klein
With the federal removal of important funding in the form of PELL grants for prisoners, money for government funded prison education programs all but dried up. The drought didn’t last too long, however, because countless individuals, colleges, universities, and non-profit organizations have stepped up to fill the need for education for inmates.
“While all college students grow as they engage in new ways of thinking, the impact of education is especially evident in prison” (Boston University). Boston University is one of several universities in the United States that have formed interactive programs with local prisons to bring school to the inmates. Cornell University has a similar program: “the Cornell Prison Education Program provides a liberal arts curriculum leading to an Associate of Arts degree for men incarcerated at the Auburn and Cayuga Correctional Facilities. Cornell faculty and doctoral students serve as instructors for all courses, and a community college accredits the degree conferred upon eligible prisoners” (Cornell University). Boston University and Cornell University are rather prestigious schools, and inmates have a lot to gain from inclusion in programs like these. Other college-level education programs are taking place as well, without affiliation to a specific school: “Inside-Out brings college students together with incarcerated men and women to study as peers in a seminar behind prison walls… Inside-Out is an opportunity for college students to go behind the walls to reconsider what they have come to know about crime and justice. At the same time, it is also an opportunity for those inside prison to place their life experiences in a larger framework” (Inside-Out Center). These programs seem to be fulfilling a need in a way that is so genius, because it makes complete sense to bring a program from a well-established institution to people that desperately need that kind of tradition and organization in their lives.
Organizations, both city and non-profit, are also getting involved in improving prospects for prisoners. One Maryland town, in need of oyster cages in order to raise oysters to release into the bay to clean up the water, has enlisted the help of prisoners in a local penitentiary to build the cages, up to 130 of them a day. Programs like the Prisoner’s Reading Encouragement Project, which brings books to prison libraries, the Petey Greene Prison Assistance Program, Princeton students who tutor prisoners, and the Insight Prison Project, teaching skills and life tools, have sprung up in all corners of the country. These organizations are proving that for many prisoners, life skills and hard work are just as important as education and that these types of programs can be and are very successfully run by private organizations.
Since government funding has dropped for education programs, non-profits, individuals, and colleges have stepped up to fill the need and attempt to help out however they can in the lives of these prisoners. Is it better this way? If they can do a quality job without costing the government money, isn’t a win-win? What do you think: is it the government’s responsibility to offer help to the people they lock up, or should they take a hands-off policy? Share your thoughts!
With the federal removal of important funding in the form of PELL grants for prisoners, money for government funded prison education programs all but dried up. The drought didn’t last too long, however, because countless individuals, colleges, universities, and non-profit organizations have stepped up to fill the need for education for inmates.
“While all college students grow as they engage in new ways of thinking, the impact of education is especially evident in prison” (Boston University). Boston University is one of several universities in the United States that have formed interactive programs with local prisons to bring school to the inmates. Cornell University has a similar program: “the Cornell Prison Education Program provides a liberal arts curriculum leading to an Associate of Arts degree for men incarcerated at the Auburn and Cayuga Correctional Facilities. Cornell faculty and doctoral students serve as instructors for all courses, and a community college accredits the degree conferred upon eligible prisoners” (Cornell University). Boston University and Cornell University are rather prestigious schools, and inmates have a lot to gain from inclusion in programs like these. Other college-level education programs are taking place as well, without affiliation to a specific school: “Inside-Out brings college students together with incarcerated men and women to study as peers in a seminar behind prison walls… Inside-Out is an opportunity for college students to go behind the walls to reconsider what they have come to know about crime and justice. At the same time, it is also an opportunity for those inside prison to place their life experiences in a larger framework” (Inside-Out Center). These programs seem to be fulfilling a need in a way that is so genius, because it makes complete sense to bring a program from a well-established institution to people that desperately need that kind of tradition and organization in their lives.
Organizations, both city and non-profit, are also getting involved in improving prospects for prisoners. One Maryland town, in need of oyster cages in order to raise oysters to release into the bay to clean up the water, has enlisted the help of prisoners in a local penitentiary to build the cages, up to 130 of them a day. Programs like the Prisoner’s Reading Encouragement Project, which brings books to prison libraries, the Petey Greene Prison Assistance Program, Princeton students who tutor prisoners, and the Insight Prison Project, teaching skills and life tools, have sprung up in all corners of the country. These organizations are proving that for many prisoners, life skills and hard work are just as important as education and that these types of programs can be and are very successfully run by private organizations.
Since government funding has dropped for education programs, non-profits, individuals, and colleges have stepped up to fill the need and attempt to help out however they can in the lives of these prisoners. Is it better this way? If they can do a quality job without costing the government money, isn’t a win-win? What do you think: is it the government’s responsibility to offer help to the people they lock up, or should they take a hands-off policy? Share your thoughts!