|
|
| Prison teachers expected to yell lessons to inmates, lawsuit says |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/18/2003 |
|
A corrections program that will require teachers in 11 California prisons to conduct their lessons through cell doors next year has drawn a lawsuit, though prison officials say it's part of a program to speed up early inmate releases. The Services Employees International Union sued over the impending practice Wednesday, asking an Imperial County Superior Court judge to block the lesson plan before it is to begin Jan. 5. Corrections spokesman Russ Heimerich confirmed the proposal, but said it is subject to ongoing labor negotiations that have delayed the initiative by a month. The inmates will largely be working on their own using self-teaching educational materials, he said, with the teachers using their 30 minutes to provide assistance. The Department of Corrections wants to offer early release incentives to more inmates more quickly by starting education programs for inmates beginning their sentences at prison intake centers instead of waiting weeks or months until they are assigned a permanent prison. Under new rules, the inmates will be eligible for early release credit if they sign up for education programs, even if no openings are immediately available. Inmates get a day off their sentence for each day they are signed up for schooling or prison jobs. It's part of the department's effort to save money during the state's continuing budget crisis. The department is moving teachers from vocational education programs to the intake centers, a plan criticized by inmate rights groups and teachers who say the vocational programs taught valuable skills. Inmates at the 11 intake centers won't be taught in traditional classrooms, according to the suit. Instead, teachers will be expected to stand outside the cells and conduct their lessons through the bars, or through narrow door slots. They'll be expected to conduct half-hour lessons with 54 different inmates each week, the union said. The union is objecting largely because it contends teachers will be sent into the cell blocks without the training, body armor, radios or other protective gear given to corrections officers. The union says traditional classrooms are more conducive to learning, and safer because teachers have an escape door, a personal alarm, and telephones that automatically dial for help when the receiver is lifted. Heimerich countered that congregated inmates are more dangerous, while teaching inmates one at a time through locked cell doors should be safer. Other civilian workers like doctors, nurses and craftsmen also aren't given protective gear when they enter cell blocks because they're rarely targeted for violence, he said. He dismissed the suit as a labor bargaining tool. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think