BILL NUMBER:A8582

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 equiv-
alency 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 educa-
tional requirements for the certification of teachers in all correction-
              

al 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 pris-
oners nationwide are far less educated than the general U.S. population
and, before incarceration,. were significantly more impoverished (Insti-
tute for Higher Education Policy). "Higher Education can improve condi-
tions 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 indi-
vidual'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 GEED or
high school diploma attainment for state prisoners is only 60%. More-
over, 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 2W 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:  This is a new bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: To be determined.

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