EDUCATION
A PATH HOME FOR INCARCERATED KIDS
EXPERT OPINION
by Harriet Karr-McDonald
We tend to think about a young person’s education as a straight line; a series of steps measured in grade levels and ages. But for young people who are exposed to the very adult world of criminal justice, things aren’t so simple. Their educations aren’t just interrupted— they’re stopped dead. And a terrible cycle begins. Recidivism becomes the rule rather than the exception; and poverty, drug use, and homelessness are more likely outcomes than a diploma or employment. The school-to-prison pipeline is real. Our society built it. And yet we’ve given virtually no thought to the return trip. When they do make it home, they exist in two worlds: the outside world of adult expectations and the internal world of adolescent pain. And we haven’t equipped them with the tools or resources to manage either.
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We see the consequences every day in our Young Men’s Program. The 18-26 year olds we serve may be past the threshold of adulthood, but in many ways they’re still children. Their personal and social skills resemble middle schoolers’. 1 in 5 reads at or below the fifth grade level. 70% have abused drugs or alcohol. Yet a quarter have kids of their own. When we look at the data, it’s clear that we as a society failed these children long before their first arrest. We already know what the consequences will be to society if we don’t intervene on their behalves, repair their broken educations, and provide a pathway to employment. Their children will grow up in poverty. They’ll drop out of school. Then prison. And the cycle will start all over again. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In New York State, we already have some of the infrastructure and mechanisms in place to care for and restore these young people’s lives— we just haven’t used them creatively enough. We need the education community, the criminal justice community, and social service agencies to work together and address their needs holistically.
city & state — June 8, 2015
Charter schools, for example, show enormous promise. Augmenting an existing model with a residential component, vocational training, and wrap-around social services would provide the intermediary step these kids need. In a specialized, immersive environment, we could repair the damage of incarceration, complete educations, and truly prepare them to enter the workforce and achieve what every young person aspires to: independence and self-sufficiency. If we’re serious about permanently breaking the cycles of incarceration and poverty in our communities, it starts with young people returning from prison. But they don’t just need a path home, they need guides along that journey. That can only happen when we, as a community of education, criminal justice, and social service professionals, come together to light the way.
JAMES MERRIMAN CEO, New York City Charter School Center
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hen it comes to Albany, nothing is ever easy. But, as session draws to a close this year, lawmakers have an opportunity to pass a simple fix to a persistent statewide problem in public education, and they should grab it. Eliminating the arbitrary cap on the number of great charter schools that can open in New York is a strong solution to an ongoing crisis. In communities where poverty is persistent, parents have united around a proven option. Seeing a way out of chronically underperforming district schools, they have applied by the tens of thousands to charter schools— public schools which are publicly funded, but independently managed. Charter schools are free to make simple changes and pursue choices that traditional district schools can’t, such as emphasizing more classroom time via a longer school day and school year. The results? Charter schools have emerged as some of the highestperforming public schools in the state. The problem is, New York City is about to run out of charters. Luckily, the solution is right in front of lawmakers. In fact, Gov. Andrew
Cuomo and the Senate are already in support of a measure to raise the number of charters by 100 and get rid of a nonsensical geographic barrier that mandates the number of charters that can open upstate versus in New York City. It’s time that the Assembly—controlled by members in whose districts demand is highest—get on board. Eliminating the cap on the number of charter schools that can provide a high-quality education to underserved kids in greater numbers not only ensures that families have a choice, but it also enables more great public school seats to be added into our struggling school system more quickly. I’m not alone in wanting more charter schools. Just this week a Quinnipiac poll revealed that support for charters is at an all-time high, with a majority of New York City parents—a whopping 62 percent—calling for more and better public school options via a cap lift. It’s time lawmakers listened and used this simple solution to allow more high-quality public schools to flourish where they are needed the most. Let’s eliminate the charter cap by the end of the session.
Harriet Karr-McDonald is Executive Vice President of The Doe Fund and co-founder of the Ready, Willing & Able transitional work program. Learn more at doe.org and twitter.com/thedoefund .
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