Books Behind Bars Pay Off

Inmates who go to school in prison are less likely to resume a life of crime when released, a bright finding in an era of high recidivism. A continuing study by the international Correctional Education Assn., a nonprofit group of educators who work in jails and prisons, underlines education’s potential for savings in state prison costs and for a reduction in crime.

Preliminary results found a 19% reduction in recidivism among Maryland inmates who participated in prison education programs before their release three years ago, according to Stephen Steurer, the director of the federally funded study. Ohio and Minnesota, the other two states covered by the four-year study, are expected to post similar results. Other studies over the years have had similar findings.

In California, most prisoners are parole violators being returned to the penal system. In Los Angeles, Police Chief Bernard C. Parks attributes a recent spike in homicides and violent crime in part to large numbers of parolees released from state prisons. Many are unskilled or illiterate.

The state prison system offers programs ranging from basic reading to college courses, but availability is well short of the needs of California’s 163,000 inmates.

A bill, SB 1845, sponsored by state Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles) and approved in August by the state Legislature, would have expanded prison education and created a board within the state Corrections Department to oversee such programs. Gov. Gray Davis vetoed the measure because, according to his veto message, it could have resulted in unbudgeted costs of $175 million, stripped control of educational programs from individual penal institutions and allowed the newly created board to compete against school districts and counties for education funds.

The bill should be fine-tuned to expand inmate education without jeopardizing state money for elementary, middle and high schools, and funding should be included in the next budget.

California spends on average $21,000 to keep an inmate behind bars for a year. For every 1,000 released prisoners who do not return to custody, the state will save $20 million, a potential source of funding for more prison education and job training. The education of inmates can pay off with an increase in productive citizens and a decrease in the heavy costs of crime. That’s a return on investment that every taxpayer should endorse.