By Tim Willert
The Oklahoman
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Four decades passed before Roy Pursley finally decided to get serious about his education.
Prison motivated Pursley, 59, a ninth-grade dropout serving time for drug possession, to obtain his general equivalency diploma, or GED.
Now he’s encouraging fellow inmates at the James Crabtree Correctional Center in Helena to do likewise.
“I wanted to better myself and show my daughter that you’re never too old to get an education,” he said recently. “I never thought about school until I came here.”
Pursley and about 1,000 other state Corrections Department inmates received GEDs earlier this year after passing tests that measure proficiency in science, mathematics, social studies, reading and writing.
“I think a lot of them realize they now have the time to do what they didn’t do on the outside,” said Pam Humphrey, the Correction Department’s superintendent of schools. “Each level they attain provides them with a lot more motivation to continue.”
A higher percentage of Oklahoma prisoners received their GEDs — the equivalent of a high school diploma — than students who are not imprisoned, according to figures provided by the state Education Department.
Approximately 3,882 inmates statewide attended classes in the 2012-13 school year. Of that number, 84 percent — 1,019 out of 1,212 — received their credentials.
“There are very few jobs now that don’t require a certificate of high school completion or a high school diploma,” said Ann Allen, executive director of adult and community education for Oklahoma City Public Schools. “It’s critical for individuals to be prepared for the workforce once they’re released.”
By comparison, 12,642 students attended non-correctional GED programs offered at 31 Adult Learning Centers across Oklahoma. Of that number, 69 percent — 2,331 out of 3,380 — earned credentials.
Pam Blundell, executive director of lifelong learning for the Education Department, said the numbers are misleading. A lower percentage of adult learners completed GED programs than those behind bars because about 9,000 of the 12,642 students enrolled were not functioning at a grade level required to take the GED tests, Blundell said.
“We serve a lot of people that are at low literacy levels,” she said. “We serve people who could possibly be non-readers and we have to teach them how to read.”
Costs to the state
The state Board of Education voted in September to allocate about $5 million in state and federal funds for adult education and literacy, including $444,701 in federal money for corrections. The Corrections Department received $361,662. The remaining $82,039 will fund classes in county jails or other local correctional programs.
“The research does show that receiving adult education and a GED while incarcerated reduces the recidivism rates and allows those individuals to re-enter the public as taxpaying citizens in a way that benefits not only the individual but the community as a whole,” Kerri White, assistant superintendent for educator effectiveness with the Education Department, told board members before they approved the funding.
Board member Bill Price, a former federal prosecutor, said he was impressed by how little it costs the state — about $97 — to help educate a prisoner.
“It’s really inexpensive for what you get out of it, and that is a reduced number of criminals that are likely to repeat,” he said.
Prisoners are taught by accredited teachers at 17 facilities statewide and assessed quarterly to determine their academic progress, said Humphrey, the corrections superintendent. On average, prisoners complete the GED program in less than a year.
Humphrey, a former public school teacher, stresses the importance of an education no matter how long her students are locked up. She said there is value in educating those considered to be failures at life, regardless of their circumstances.
“We want to take them to their highest level of achievement we can before their release,” she said. “We have students in class who have several life sentences. If they can complete their GED early they can go on and go to college and make very good use of their time with us.”
State Board of Education member Lee Baxter said he believes educating prisoners shouldn’t be a priority since budget cuts have forced adult education and literacy programs throughout the state to pare back services.
“I don’t necessarily view lower recidivism as a good trade-off against uneducated Oklahomans who can’t get financial assistance because were paying for prisoners,” Baxter said recently. “I just feel it’s a matter of prioritization and (prisoners) aren’t as high a priority as others.”
Allen, with Oklahoma City Public Schools, said the cuts have resulted in fewer classes and waiting lists to get in.
“Once, we had the capacity to take anybody who walked in the door,” she said.
Approximately 1,800 students are enrolled in the Oklahoma City adult learning center, many of whom are working or spending time away from their families to complete GED programs.
The demands are different from those faced by prisoners, said Cindy Parsons, an adult education teacher.
“For the most part, I think they’re more motivated than people in correctional facilities because they’re giving up more to attend classes,” Parsons said. “They’re giving up their free time, their time with their families. Some of them are taking off work early so that they can attend these classes.”
Jennifer George, 33, of Midwest City, dropped out of high school at 16 to get married.
Earlier this year, the divorced mother of three enrolled in adult education classes and earned her GED in about two months with the help of her former in-laws.
Now she plans to go to college to study respiratory therapy.
“My goal was to stick my head in the books,” she said. “I wanted to be able to take the next steps toward a better career for my family.”
The same can be said for Pursley, who is scheduled to be released from prison in 2015. College is part of his exit strategy.
“Education makes life a lot easier,” he said. “I even tell some of the youngsters when they come in that they need to get an education.”