§3423a Office of Correctional Education

Summary

Creates an Office of Correctional Education inside the Department of Education. Congress says education helps people leaving prison and that the federal government must help state and local programs. The goal is to encourage and support education for people in correctional settings. The Office must run and coordinate correctional-education efforts in the Department. It must help State and local education agencies and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools with programs and curricula. It must give a yearly report to Congress, work with other federal agencies, reach out to state correctional educators, and collect sample data from States on people who finish vocational programs, earn a high school diploma or GED, or get college degrees while incarcerated and how that relates to jobs and recidivism. Definitions: criminal offender = someone charged with or convicted of a crime (including youth); correctional institution = places like prisons, jails, detention centers, halfway houses, work farms, or similar facilities; State educational agency = the state board or agency in charge of public K–12 schools (or a governor-designated agency).