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| Calif. Officers Union Targets Inmates' College Program |
| By Los Angeles Times |
| Published: 05/20/2003 |
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California's powerful prison officers union is trying to kill one of only two programs in the state allowing inmates to earn college degrees, angering advocates who say that educating felons prevents many of them from committing crimes after their release. The popular program at Ironwood State Prison in Blythe enrolls 280 inmates pursuing a two-year associate of arts degree through the local community college. It has 800 more convicts on a waiting list and has won accolades as a model that should be introduced at all 33 prisons. But the local chapter of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association has demanded that the warden abolish the program, arguing that it is wrong to provide state-funded education to rapists, molesters and murderers. The inmates, like other eligible low-income Californians at community colleges, receive free textbooks and a waiver of fees through the program, which uses videotaped lectures and computer-based coursework in lieu of classroom teaching. The cost per inmate is about $750 a year, though the prisoners also receive counseling from college advisors. In February, protests by the union prompted the elimination of a similar program at Chuckawalla Valley State Prison, which is also in Blythe, said its spokesman, Lt. Warren Montgomery. That ended classes for 50 inmates. The warden at Ironwood, James E. Hall, has so far stood behind the program. Hall said inmates who participate have proved far less likely to create disciplinary problems, and argued that educating convicts benefits society. 'If inmates can better themselves in prison, they're more likely to find a job when they get out and less likely to go back to their predatory ways,' Hall said. 'That's good for everybody.' But the president of the union's local chapter, Kelly Breshears, holds a different view. In a memo distributed to officers at the medium-security prison in eastern Riverside County, he said the union is outraged that Palo Verde Community College would provide state-funded education to inmates rather than offering it 'to people in the community who pay taxes and may benefit from these services.' Neither Breshears nor officials at union headquarters in West Sacramento returned telephone calls from The Times seeking comment. But the April 23 memo urged members to boycott all prison-backed fund-raisers, blood drives, picnics and other functions until the program is canceled. College officials say the union's characterizations of the program are inaccurate and that in fact the alliance with Ironwood has permitted them to add faculty, expand the curriculum and increase opportunities for other disadvantaged residents of their remote district. Nationally, statistics show that prisoners who earn college degrees are far less likely to return to prison once they are paroled. One Arizona study showed that prisoners who earned a two-year degree had a recidivism rate of 10%, compared with a national rate of about 60% at that time. |
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