IF PRISON INMATES CAN ONLY READ AND DO MATH AT THE 5TH GRADE LEVEL THEY ARE DOING AS WELL AS MANY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES

Prison educator: TDCJ inmates' reading and math on a 5th grade level

BY Scott Henson

Grits for Breakfast
September 12, 2018

The average Texas prison inmate's reading and math skills are at a fifth grade level, the superintendent of TDCJ's Windham School District told the Senate Criminal Justice Committee this morning.

Large numbers of the nearly 70,000 inmates leaving Texas prisons every year, he told the committee, do so without a GED. The agency grants about 5,000 GEDs per year.

Chairman John Whitmire briefly raised the question of computer proficiency among inmates leaving the system, and I found myself wishing the superintendent had discussed it more. The ability to use a computer - particularly word processing and spreadsheet software, but even basic internet search functions - can be essential these days, even for retail or service work.

For that matter, in 2018, searching for a job most frequently means searching on the internet. That's harder to do if, first, one has to learn how to ACCESS the internet.

Those skills should be taught in prisons.