Educating Inmates

[scolopaxmatt]

So we're going to GIVE money (Federal Pell Grants) to inmates to go to college.  After reading this brief I gave the paper back to the dog and ordered him to eat it immediately lest I burn it and the house down.  I figure while serving time for arson, manslaughter and cruelty charges I'll get another degree.

 

A bit facetious, but seriously, who comes up with this stuff? 

[Mr VJP]

Some people believe you can make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

 

The woman who was a sewing instructor and helped two murderers escape from a NY maximum security prison, plead guilty and will be sentenced.  She may get as much as 7 years.  That's a slap on the wrist considering what they could've done on the run, the fact she discussed having them kill her husband (which is a crime of attempting to hire a hit man in itself), and the total cost to the taxpayers for all she caused to happen.

 

The kicker is, part of her plea deal allows her to keep her state pension!  The taxpayers of NY are considered nothing but an unlimited source of income for the state, so why not send prisoners to college too?  Federal taxpayers be damned too.

 

Edited August 1, 2015 by Mr VJP

[diplomat019]

Ive had this discussion before. First off let me say i do not condone rewarding someone for being in jail. Your in jail for a reason. But fiscally could this make more sense? The tax payers are already spending their money on keeping these people in jail. And most people who go to jail will probably be back in jail on and off for their lives. By giving them some sort of skill do you think it could keep them from possibly going back and also have them become tax payers themselves when they are on the outside.

[Mr VJP]

Past history has shown these programs to be expensive, abused by the people who are employed by, or run them, ineffective, poorly supervised and dishonest.

 

We give inmates GED's now when they do not earn them.  They pass the inmates to make the program look like it's working.  How would you feel if an inmate got a job with his "College" degree when it's obvious that inmate didn't really earn the degree?

 

Look at inmates that get Law degrees in jail.  Most often they use the degree to fight the prison system, costing taxpayers even more money.

 

Why can't an inmate take out a student loan for college like everyone else has to do?  Maybe if they had some skin in the game, having to work and pay the loan back when they get out, they would actually take it seriously and earn it?  There are plenty of on-line college degrees they could get in jail right now, but they have to pay for them with a loan and repay the loan when they start working.

 

Maybe it would be better to teach them a skill like plumbing or carpentry on a loan they must repay as well.  They would have a better chance of getting a skilled labor job in today's economy anyway.

Edited August 1, 2015 by Mr VJP

[wildcat junkie]

Maybe we should give more Pell grants & quit gutting public education BEFRORE those people end up in prison? We now spend more to house an inmate than we spend to educate our children.

[Mr VJP]

No matter how much is put into education, it ain't worth a tinker's damn if the parent doesn't make sure their kid goes to school rather than joining a gang.  If the education isn't valued by the student, or the parent, that student isn't going to learn anything.  It's about values!

 

Uneducated people don't become criminals just because they didn't want an education.  There are lazy people, and there are criminals.  It often takes many arrests and convictions before someone is sent to prison.  Once they get sent to jail, they no longer deserve any compassion without proving they deserve it.

 

IMHO we should be spending far less housing prisoners and requiring far more accountability for the money we spend on education.  Nothing the government is in charge of is ever fiscally responsible, because they always claim it isn't working due to lack of funds.  Decades ago, we educated kids a lot better when we spent far less on each pupil, as a percentage of taxes collected, than we do now.  

 

Back then education was valued and there were consequences for not cooperating with the educational system.  Today, there are no consequences for wasting the opportunity to get an education.  In fact, there are no consequences in this society for self inflicted misery, when you have no education.  Throwing more money at the problem is not the answer.

 

Teach these prisoners, and all who don't want to be educated, that nothing is provided unless you earn it.  Take advantage of opportunity when it is available to you and don't expect hand outs when you have squandered your opportunities.

 

Edited August 2, 2015 by Mr VJP

[Mr VJP]