Free Education In Prison Analysis

Consider the following, your children are applying to college, but are denied a scholarship and you as a parent must pay in full in order for them to get an education. As frustrating as that is, also think about how the Governor of New York state wants you a tax payer, a parent to also pay for the education for inmates in prison. You have no say in the matter, your tax dollars are taken from you and are given to prisons for those who commit crimes to get a free college education on your dime. Despite those who say giving inmates free education would not only be beneficial for the state, but to also stop the growing populations in prisons, giving free college education to these inmates must not happen because it is a free education for someone …show more content…
When teaching in a prison the teacher has to know what can be talked about and what can not, so they do not offend the inmates they are teaching. A teacher must spend more hours on setting up a learning schedule for these inmates, then a teacher would normally spend in a normal classroom setting. They must take into account that a majority of offenders have little to no literary or mathematical skills whatsoever. Tracy Slater describes in her article that the people she teaches can range from rapists to drug dealers, from murderers to thieves and that the protocol is very strict as to what she can teach and what she can wear to her class. If you are a woman teaching you must wear baggy clothing, nothing form fitting, and or provocative in the classroom, no jewelry, no makeup or anything that can associate her as what she really is a female(Teaching Gender Issues to Inmates.). When going into these prisons they are very standardized when it comes to the technology, and libraries, the teacher is held responsible for all resources that they may need to use. As Rachel Toor stated “Most of the guys(prisoners) worked jobs at the prison. They were busy and tired and didn 't have access to computers, typewriters, or even paper. The prison library was inadequate…”, so in turn the teacher may have to use their own money to provide the simple things one might need when doing class work(Teaching in the Pokey). To stop the possible dangers that could go on with a teacher coming in to teach these inmates are the use of computers within the prison, this too could also pose possible threats if not watched and monitored