Posted: August 26th, 2022

Prisoner’s receiving state-funded education vs. students

Prisoner’s receiving state-funded education vs. students who played Box 6.2 on page 118 of the text brings to light an issue concerning prisoners receiving a state-funded education. Give me your thoughts as to whether you feel this is not fair to students who have “played by the rules” their whole lives and receive little or no tuition assistance or whether funding a prisoners’ education may open doors upon their release from prison and make them good contributing members of society (1-2 double spaced pages).

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Prisoner’s receiving state-funded education vs. students who played by the rules
The issue of the state funding the education of prisoners as compared to law-abiding students has been a subject of public debate with equal measures of support and criticism. In this regard, the government needs to fund education for the prisoners in the state’s interest (Toldson and Morton, 2011). Sections of the society believe that the government should not fund the education of the prisoners while at the same time failing to support the education of students that have consistently observe the law. The state needs to continue supporting the prisoners’ education despite the criticism for not offering equal support to education for law-abiding citizens.
Reasons for the support of prisoners’ government-sponsored education
There is a wide range of reasons for the state to fund prison education despite not offering similar support to the student who is not involved in violating any law. In this regard, the provision of state-funded prison education saves taxpayers money in the long run since prisoners that have gone through prison education or training are less likely to be incarcerated (Toldson and Morton, 2011). Prison education makes less money to be spent on prison management and makes communities safe. The less money is spent on prison and community security; thus, there is excess money to fund other projects in the society that benefit even law-abiding students.
State-funded prison education ensures that all society members can access employment opportunities, thus ensuring the growth and development of the entire society. State-funded education ensures that prisoners have access to academic and vocational programs ensure that they get employed upon leaving the prison (Esperian, 2010). The prisoners are prepared to be eligible for employment opportunities upon being released from prison. Prison education ensures that prisoner education gets the same employment opportunities as the law-abiding, thus ensuring common growth in society.
Prison education ensures that there are strong families and societies by shaping the prisoners’ future lives and their families. In this regard, children of incarcerated persons suffer emotional and behavioral issues, and they have a high likelihood of finding themselves in prison. The reduction of potential negatives for the incarcerated persons’ children is achieved by providing opportunities for their parents (Esperian, 2010). Parents’ success in education and finding employment opportunities ensures that children maintain a strong bond with their parents after the release. Prison education ensures that children and their parents live standard and comfortable life, thus achieving sustainable people for society. Therefore, prison education should continue since there are secondary benefits experienced by students that observe the law.
Additionally, it is important to note that state-funded education by the government does not take away money from other students. All the students will enjoy similar education resources and opportunities in the common good’s interest (Behan, 2014). Critics of state-funded prison education argue that prisoners get free education at the expense of taxpayers and other students. The Pell Grants are accessed based on a student’s income, meaning that no student can be denied the grants because of someone in prison. Additionally, the government increased the Pell Grants funding to cater to both the students in prison and law-abiding students, ensuring that there are enough funds. Therefore, state-funded prison education needs to continue in the interest of the societal common good.

Conclusion
There is a wide range of advantages associated with state-funded prison education, and thus the program and initiative need to continue in the interest of the common good. The state-funded prison education ensures employment opportunities; there is equal funding for all students, strong families, employment opportunities, and saving of the taxpayers’ money.

References
Behan, C. (2014). Learning to escape: Prison education, rehabilitation and the potential for transformation. Journal of Prison Education and Reentry, 1(1), 20-31.
Esperian, J. H. (2010). The effect of prison education programs on recidivism. Journal of Correctional Education, 316-334.
Toldson, I. A., & Morton, J. (2011). Editor’s comment: A million reasons there’re more black men in college than in prison; Eight hundred thousand reasons there’s more work to be done. The Journal of Negro Education, 1-4.