Don’t worry we will save the country by educating the entire prison population.
NY is broke end of story
Spending ANY additional money to benefit the state should be focused on creating jobs and opportunity for those who deserve it not for people who already fucked up.
Why do people end up in prison? Look no further than the failing public school system
You’re trying to treat a symptom of a number of other larger social issues at the wrong point.
I was busy this morning and was hoping someone else would take the initiative to dig up some actual facts but as usual this place is like a monkey shit fight at the zoo.
A lot of info on the limited Bard Prison Initiative on their site:
Who can participate?
People in select New York State prisons may apply and are selected based on their ambition and willingness to work hard. To apply, one must have a high school diploma or its equivalent. Admission to BPI is highly competitive — typically there are ten applications for each available spot. Many gain admission after more than one application. The admissions process involves both a written exam and a personal interview.
That raises a huge red flag when Cuomo is tossing around that 40% to 4% number. You’re not going to see a reduction like that with a larger selection pool.
Here’s an answer to the whole “what kind of degrees are they” banter:
Are the courses designed to help inmates enter the job market?
BPI’s primary focus is not vocational. Rather, it is a college liberal arts program designed to educate participants broadly, so they can think flexibly and critically — skills that support a fulfilling life, as well as professional success. BPI does offer, however, some advanced, employment-oriented training for graduates who are preparing for release.
Liberal arts program :lol:
This
This
This
This.
I look at the statistics of my school district compared to BPS, and it’s comical.
And the sad fact is that even in our district, some kids just choose to fail. And that lies on the responsibility of the parents, not the school.
I’d rather keep people out of jail in the first place by providing them an opportunity to gain a skill or trade, or a passion for something that could support a family.
The average income per capita for a person in NYS is ~$32,000 (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36000.html). Being generous, each job you create would bring in an extra $3,000 in tax money for the state at that pay rate. You’d need to create 20 jobs to create the tax value that keeping one person out of prison would create. I don’t disagree ideologically; honest, hardworking people should get first dibs at free education, but I’m trying to argue from an objective standpoint of what’s best for the overall budget situation.
I agree it’s better to treat the root cause than the symptoms of the disease, but from a numbers standpoint the financial benefit of keeping people employed and out of prison is potentially huge. That being said, based on what JayS posted above it seems unlikely that this program would produce those type of results.
I’m officially off the fence BTW. Fuck this program. Spend the money trying to keep people out of jail in the first place. Better school, more money for CPS to yank kids out of shitty homes, air drop condoms over shitty urban areas. Maybe replace those air dropped condoms with some sort of aerosol birth control cloud that you’re only given a blocker for once you demonstrate you have the capabilities to raise and pay for a child…
How many people do you know with a liberal arts degree and no criminal record have a decent job?
None, now that the details of the program have been posted, I agree with all the hate here. But people shouldn’t be so quick to pull the trigger without all the facts, which we definitely didn’t have at first.
Maybe a dutch wrapper that could double as a condom?
While I can appreciate the root proposal of this, it is completely negated by reality. College kids with degrees with NO criminal back ground cannot get jobs. Criminals with a college degree will NOT get jobs and therefore will revert back to what they “know best” a life of crime. It is not a rehabilitation program, it is an opportunity incentive program and with no opportunity comes no benefits.
I believe they should take the criminals and but them into a trade school/union school. Then the inmates could build roads/bridges/buildings and radically decrease the cost of construction in NY…but oh wait, that cannot happen because the Unions wouldnt allow it and even if they did, NYS will not allow convicts to work on NYS facilities…Brilliant.
This is just a liberal feel good proposition that we care about everyone equally…blah blah blah…Blue State 4L yuck.
This is my take. People are so quick to shoot it down and complain about how much the state takes, but they offer no alternative. I by no means support the taxpayers taking on the burden of educating prisoners, but I do support the task of trying to rid the prisons of people that really don’t belong there and to help people coming out that actually want to get back on their feet.
Obviously the easiest thing to say is that we need to get to the source which is how the parents are raising their kids, which is scary because it’s only getting worse. I fear for the time when the generation who idolizes Miley and the Biebs are running things. I really hope I’m not around when that happens.
My freshman next year will have been born in 2000.
Chew on that one for a bit.
Oh and just in case the Safe Act wasn’t enough for Cuomo to punch his ticket out of NYS, this should be a big boost.
The details were never relevant.
NY has no money, insane taxes, lack of economic growth, and a huge list of issues.
Anything outside the core issues for NY isn’t important at this point.
Some good quotes
““In a world of finite resources, where we are struggling to find funding for education for our kids, the last thing New York State should be funding is college tuition for convicts,” Ball said in a statement. “As some are unveiling ‘Attica University’, millions of New Yorkers right now are wondering how the heck they are going to pay student loans and help their kids go to college. Why not help them?”” - Senator Greg Ball
“Our students face out-of-control costs and crushing debt if they decide to pursue a degree – hardworking families need help going to college, not prison inmates,” said Assemblyman James Skoufis, D-Woodbury, Orange County.
I’m also pretty sure its not people listening to Justin Bieber filling up our prison systems
Take a look at the NY unemployment rate maybe we should work at finding law abiding people jobs first? or increasing their education? :funny2:
No, it’s Bieber himself. LOL
touche