The March 25 editorial titled “The crime of prison illiteracy” correctly laid out the devastating problem of low literacy levels among prisoners in Illinois and across the nation. Education is an important factor in keeping people out of jail and in reducing the number of repeat offenders swelling our prisons.
Boosting overall adult literacy levels has long been a goal of mine. To this end, the secretary of state’s office has made a concerted effort to assist the Illinois Department of Corrections and local law-enforcement officials in offering literacy programs to as many inmates as possible.
Over the last three years, my office has funded volunteer literacy tutoring for 6,107 inmates. There are currently volunteer programs in 22 state correctional facilities and 30 county and municipal jails.
In 1995, 785 community volunteers and inmate/peer tutors helped Illinois prisoners raise their reading levels. More inmates can be helped to overcome their literacy difficulties, however, if more volunteer tutors were available. I urge the citizens of Illinois to donate a few hours of their time to a local literacy program.
In addition to these volunteer efforts, I have awarded a $64,400 literacy grant to the Illinois Department of Corrections School District 428 to fund reading programs at the Dwight, Kankakee, Pontiac and Sheridan facilities and to supplement literacy efforts at 13 other state correctional centers. More than 430 inmates were served by these programs. Test scores indicated that the reading levels of these prisoners improved at a faster rate than the levels of other adult literacy students.
As the Tribune pointed out, education is not a panacea for reducing recidivism. But it is a proven fact that raising the reading skills of inmates helps make them productive members of society after they serve their terms and reduces the chances that they will commit another crime.
