Burchett / 6 Senator Stucki

S.W._____

A BILL
To provide incentives to the states to promote a successful reentry into society after serving time for criminal
activity by completing a minimum educational requirement.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the Inmate Education Act of 2015.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1) Inmates who do not have a high school diploma or a GED certificate must participate in the literacy
program for a minimum of 240 hours or until they obtain the GED.
2) Upon re entering society, former offenders are likely to struggle with a lack of adequate education and job
skills.
3) Over two-thirds of released state prisoners are expected to be rearrested for a felony or serious
misdemeanor within three years after release.
4) The BOP contracts with residential reentry centers to provide assistance to inmates who are nearing release.
5) Education in prisons presents opportunity for the incarcerated to prepare for success upon release.
6) The release preparations begin the first day of incarceration but the preparations intensify at least eighteen
months prior to release.
7) The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 provided federal fundings for state and local
law enforcement, crime prevention programs, and construction of new prisons.
8) Nearly 650,000 people are released from the nations prisons every year... Two-thirds of those who come
out of prison are rearrested within three years of release
9) All institutions offer literacy classes, English as a Second Language, parenting classes, wellness education,
adult continuing education, library services, and instruction in leisure-time activities.
10) Education behind bars presents an opportunity for the incarcerated to prepare for success upon release.
11) A significant part of the social return to completing high school comes in the form of externalities

from crime reduction.

SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) Inmates in state and federal prisons without a high school diploma or General Educational Development
(GED) that are eligible for parole or release, must complete a minimum educational requirement within their
prison sentence before being considered for parole or before their release date. No inmate shall be denied an
education to help with their transition back into society. For inmates with a disability that hinders their ability
to complete the educational requirements, do not have to complete the curriculum.
B) This law shall be enforced and upheld by the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, and the
Federal Bureau of Prisons. Fundings for additional law enforcement officers will come from the Department
of Justice. Fundings for additional teachers in federal and state prisons will come from the Department of
Education. The federal government shall increase the Department of Justice and the Department of
Educations fundings by fifteen percent of their current budget to accommodate the additional costs required.
C) An inmate with will be required to get their GED. If a prisoner has a high school diploma or their GED,
they do not have to complete it. If state prisons fail to adopt and uphold a mandatory educational curriculum
highway funding shall be cut by two percent. This law will take effect July 1, 2016 at which time all parole
hearings will be postponed until after July 1, 2017 when state prisons must adopt and participate in an
educational curriculum.