Skip to main content

Momentum Grows In Congress To Expand Access To Quality Postsecondary Education For People In Prison [witnessla.com]

 

By Witness LA, July 8, 2019.

Twenty-five years ago, the massive Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994,  which, among other things,  prevented incarcerated students hoping for a college degree from accessing Pell Grants, was signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton, and essentially resulted in the slashing of opportunities for higher education in federal and state prisons across the U.S.,  a move that, as Mikaol T. Nietzel, president emeritus of Missouri State University, wrote for Forbes recently was “a foolish decision, driven by political posturing rather than financial necessity or sound policy.”

And so it has been for a quarter-century.

In April of this year, however, the Restoring Education and Learning Act—or REAL Act—was introduced into the U.S. Senate by Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Dick Durbin (D-IL), with companion legislation introduced in the House of Representatives by Reps. Danny Davis (D-IL), Jim Banks (R-IN), Barbara Lee (D-CA), and French Hill (R-AK).

If passed, the REAL Act would reverse the 1994 Pell grant ban, thus finally unlocking financial aid for men and women in the nation’s prisons.  The legislation’s early supporters include such organizations as the American Bar Association, the American Council on Education, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the American Correctional Association, the Equal Justice Initiative, the ACLU, and more.  

[Please click here to read more.]

Add Comment

Comments (1)

Newest · Oldest · Popular

Thanks for posting. Makes so much sense to expand education opportunities for all people, including prisoners. Our nation has not been a land of equal opportunity in myriad ways. The Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act’s excluding prisoners from this chance to better themselves is certainly one of them. The school-to-prison pipeline coupled with myopic legislation further punishing people for crimes wealthy people would get away with was one more way of keeping people down, fostering recidivism, encouraging hopelessness. It is about time to revisit and change this. 

Post
Copyright © 2023, PACEsConnection. All rights reserved.
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×