The Obama administration has given us a new reason to ask our leaders to end the stalemate in Springfield and pass a budget. It has announced a program to allow colleges and universities to run education programs in prisons. The inmates would be supported by Pell grants, which have been denied to prisoners since 1994.
This makes economic sense for Illinois, where locking up a youth costs up to $130,000 a year. Maximum Pell grants are about $6,000. Those who participate in education programs in prison are almost 30 percent less likely to end up back in prison. This would save us a lot of money, since more than half of Illinois inmates return to prison within three years.
Some argue that Pell dollars should not be spent on people who have committed crimes because doing so takes money from people who have not. But there is a $5 return for every dollar spent on education in prison. The return can be invested in support for all education and services. Prisoners participating in education programs are much more likely to conform to prison rules, cause less trouble and create a good influence within the prisons. Once they get out, they are more likely to be employed and become taxpayers. Less recidivism means our communities are safer.
This would help to achieve Gov. Bruce Rauner’s ambitious goal of a 25 percent reduction in the number of people in our overcrowded prisons over the next 10 years.
But if a state budget isn’t passed, colleges and universities will not get state support. Institutions that are struggling to stay afloat are hardly likely to be able to invest in such pilot projects.
The federal government is using Pell grants in a smart way. Illinois can take advantage of this innovation if our elected leaders rise to the challenge and pass a sound budget.
— Tyrone Fahner, president, Civic Committee of the Commercial Club, Chicago
— Paula Wolff, director, Illinois Justice Project, Chicago
