Guest AuthorNew York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently proposed providing college degree programs in New York prisons, a proposal met with harsh criticisms from lawmakers and taxpayers alike.
The estimated cost would be $5,000 per year per prisoner and a degree could be completed in three years or less. But providing taxpayer funded college scholarships to felons just doesn’t sit right with most people.
Cuomo says the program would reduce recidivism and better prepare inmates for life after prison. That position aligns with the goals of the Florida TaxWatch Center for Smart Justice.
While his execution of this particular idea may ruffle feathers, it highlights an important issue. What level of education, vocational training and employment assistance should taxpayers provide to felons?
In Florida, taxpayer-supported college education for felons would be costly, controversial and impractical because 70 percent of inmates did not finish high school and 74 percent of inmates serve three years or less.
But, those who think inmate education should not be a government priority need to think again. The reality is that 87 percent of prisoners in Florida will be released and return to Florida communities. In 2012-2013, 33,173 felons re-entered Florida communities. In 2012 less than 7 percent of them received academic and vocational training, according to the Department of Corrections.
That means that more than 30,000 felons were released last year without new skills to help them cope with life outside prison.
Public safety demands we do better than this. Left unassisted, few will be able to rise above their mistakes. That will inevitably lead to more crime and more corrections costs on top of the $2.3 billion Florida spends each year.
Corrections statistics show that half of the new admissions to Florida prisons have been there before. As a former prosecutor, I harbor little sympathy for offenders. But as a taxpayer and smart-justice advocate, I know that the revolving prison door is not a sensible solution to the problem of crime and punishment. Taxpayers now pay $7,000 per year per student, but spend more than $20,000 per year per prisoner.
While most citizens think that most inmates committed violent offenses, statistics show that 57 percent of new admissions in 2012 were incarcerated for drugs, burglary and theft. Nearly 60 percent are under the age of 34.
This is the prime time to change their criminal habits through education and vocational training. They are young, will leave prison in fewer than three years, have not physically injured others, and are more adaptable to information technology and the changing workplace. If these prisoners get an education and vocational skills, they have a chance to find employment. They may also become taxpayers, rather than costing taxpayers.
College is not the smart-justice answer for most prisoners in Florida, but more education and vocational training clearly is. Felons will always be among us – an estimated 1.5 million live in Florida. If we ever hope to improve public safety and save millions of dollars in corrections costs, we must commit to educating and training nonviolent prisoners.
Florida can choose to invest in crime colleges, where inmates learn to become better criminals, or we can invest in creating a brighter future for all Florida citizens by providing inmates with the skills they need to be successful after their sentence.
Dan McCarthy is the Director of the Florida TaxWatch Center for Smart Justice. TaxWatch is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit public policy research institute and government watchdog in Tallahassee, Florida.
