BILL NUMBER:S2813

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 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:

S.7230 Adams
03/20/08 Senate:Referred to Crime Victims, Crime & Corrections
01/22/08 Assembly: Referred to Corrections
2010: A.8582/S.2785 Held in Crime Victims Crime & Correction

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: To be determined.

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