Reason for the Memo:
This memo addresses the issue concerning the importance of education of incarcerated and represents some recommendations to the authority of the Department of Education. I am sure that it is necessary to pay due attention to the above mentioned problem. I think that my recommendation concerning the change of mission of the Department of Education will be considered and taken into consideration.
Main body:
I’d like to represent some important information concerning the importance of education of incarcerated and to prove the fact that the Justice and Education Departments should work together in order to solve the educational problem of incarcerated.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE KEY ISSUE
It is known that those people who violated laws and committed crimes should be punished. However, the life of ex-prisoners who return to their communities after incarceration is very often neglected by the government and public. The major problem lies in the fact that incarcerated have no education or their education level is too low. They have no opportunity to find well-paid jobs and to take care of their families in a proper way.
BACKGROUND
The following reports and studies explore the above mentioned problem.
Policy Information Report Concerning the Educational Perspective on the Prison Population of the USA
This report touches upon the problem of those ex-prisoners whose “lives are negatively affected by incarceration”. It is clear that efficient education and training programs provide the improvement in the sphere of employment and cutting the recidivism in the country. (Coley et al. 3)
The problem is that a large number of prisoners return to their communities having “three strikes against them for getting a job”:
Ӣ most of the ex-prisoners have low level of education that is why they have problems with jobs. Most employees do not want to give job to the illiterate workers.
Ӣ Most employers are looking for the experienced employees even for the low-skilled jobs. The ex-prisoners have no experience in this or that job.
”¢ A great deal of jobs are simply “off limits” for the ex-prisoners.
Although today there are some short-term programs for those prisoners who will be released in the near future, but they are not efficient. That is why “there is a need to buttress them with solid, longer-term programs”. (Coley et al. 4)
The Article Prison Economics: Crime and Punishment
Cait Murphy’s article Prison Economics: Crime and Punishment touches upon the theme of rising rate of prison population. The author tries to find the way out of this situation. He argues that the US governmental agencies do nothing to reduce the amount of people in prisons. He writes: ”We send people to prison at a rate that is almost unheard of”. (Murphy 1)
According to the statistical data, today, about 2 million Americans are “either in prison or jail”. Moreover, the author of the article states that the spending on incarceration has also increased, from $7 billion in 1980 to $45 billion today.
This fact proves that certain actions should be taken in order to improve the situation in the country. (Murphy 2)