BILL NUMBER:  S2785

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the correction law, in relation to establishing a
general equivalency program and a higher education program for inmates


 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :
To establish higher education and general equivalency education
program in state correctional facilities. Education can reduce
recidivism and provide the necessary tools to improve an inmate's
quality of life, once he or she is released.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :
Section 136-a will enable all "inmates imprisoned for a determinate
term, or an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment other than a
sentence of life imprisonment without parole" to be evaluated for
culpability of completing academic course work and provide each with
an opportunity to complete the general equivalency program or the
higher education program.

The department will ensure that academic education programs include
appropriate curriculum and certified academic staff for general
equivalency and college credit instruction. Further, the department
will assure that such programs are available at all correctional
facilities. A classroom ratio of 20 inmates per instructor shall be
              

present, in order to offer a competitive learning environment. The
Commissioner, in cooperation with the Commissioner of Education will
set up the educational requirements for the certification of teachers
in all correctional facilities.

The Commissioner shall also plan for implementation of the general
equivalency and college credit programs and will issue a report within
twelve months after the effective date of this subdivision.

 JUSTIFICATION :
Data collected by the federal government show that prisoners
nationwide are far less educated than the general U.S. population and,
before incarceration, were significantly more impoverished (Institute
for Higher Education Policy). "Higher Education can improve conditions
within correctional facilities, enhance prisoner self-esteem and
prospects for employment after release, and function as a
cost-effective approach to reducing recidivism. Educating prisoners
allows them access to social and economic benefits associated with
higher education (ibid)."  Educational programs reduce recidivism by
increasing an individual's ability to successfully rejoin mainstream
society. Education is essential, especially in light of empirical
data, which reveals the difficulty that ex-offenders have in gaining
employment due to a lack of marketable skills.

As of 1997, only 26% of those in state prisons and 41% of those in
federal prisons had graduated from high school GED or high school
diploma attainment for state prisoners is only 60%. Moreover, at least
70% of state and federal inmates, who held a GED as of 1997, earned it
while in prison. In 1997, only 11% of state prisoners had at least
some college education, and only 2% were college graduates.  The
general population was four to five times more likely to have attended
college than were prisoners. Researchers from the Justice Policy
Institute have found that as of 2000, 30% more Black men were in
prison than enrolled in college.

In 2003, the same researcher concluded that a Black man in his
thirties is twice as likely to experience prison as to earn a college
degree.


Education reduces violence in prisons. Furthermore, educational
programs can break down racial barriers, which in the prison setting
are often an underlying cause of disciplinary problems and even
violence. At an Indiana prison, a survey showed that those taking
classes committed 75% fewer infractions than the average inmate.
Consequently, success in the classroom can translate into life success
as the correlation between hard work and positive results become more
tangible.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
S.7230 ADAMS             Same as A.9811 Peoples
Correction Law

03/20/08 Senate:   Referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections
01/22/08 Assembly: Referred to Corrections

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
To be determined.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
To be effective on the 120th day after becoming law.