Education Behind bars
Prison Teachers
By Nazneen Malik
As we settled into a round table discussion in one of the
empty classrooms at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, I
could not help but notice some of the prison inmates lingering
behind, asking their teachers last minute questions as they
put their notebooks away into transparent school bags. Teachers
laughed. Inmates smiled and talked amongst themselves as they
walked out of the classroom. I did not feel as though I was
in a maximum-security prison.
Bedford Hills Correctional
Facility (BHCF) is one of the few women’s’ prisons in the nation that provides inmates
with academic programming. On arrival, inmates are administered
an adult basic education exam designed by the Department of
Education to assess mathematical and reading proficiency. The
goal of BHCF is to ensure that upon release, inmates possess
at least a high school diploma or the equivalent. In terms
of academic programming, BHCF offers Adult Basic Education
(ABE), Pre-GED, GED as well as bachelor’s degrees and
master’s degrees in conjunction with Marymount Manhattan
College.
“There is value in a place like this,” stresses
Sister Katherine Fisher, who teaches the pre-GED classes. “[Inmates]
come in thinking they’re a failure and once they realize
that they can do it and they feel [teachers] aren’t patronizing
them, their entire person changes.” Prior to joining
BHCF twenty years ago when the state still supported college
in prison programs, Sister Fisher served as principal of a
catholic school in Manhattan. “I’ve always wanted
to teach,” says Sister Fisher, “and here we care
about the inmates and are interested in where they are going.”
Marian DiFabbio, who
teaches the GED class, could not agree more. She has been
with BHCF for the past 12 years and considers her teaching
experience at Bedford to be very rewarding. “You
feel the students’ success personally,” she says.
Students in her class prepare to take the basic education exam
which is offered three times a year. Each of her two classes
has about twenty students and they meet for three hours a day,
five days a week. Students cover the entire high school curriculum
over the course of four months. “It is difficult for
the women because it’s a compressed amount of time,” explained
DiFabbio, “but they stay motivated and they do the work.”
Not all students, however, are on the same level, and some
students are further behind than others. Peggy Weiss, who has
been with BHCF for five years, teaches a special education
class which they refer to as Learning Labs. Her class basically
functions like a big safety net that catches anyone who has
a large discrepancy between their math and reading skills.
Students in her class generally possess less than fifth grade
level of proficiency in math and reading. They are also evaluated
by a psychologist to verify that they belong in her class.
Ms. Weiss also teaches elementary math and English in her ABE
class.
In addition to these
classes, BHCF also offers two ESL classes that are taught
by Abe Graef who joined the facility about two months ago.
Each class has roughly 15 students, and Mr. Graef is able
to give them individualized attention. “The
problem,” he explains, “is with basic literacy.
Some students cannot even speak their own language properly
and they often have to start from scratch.”
The teachers spoke very candidly about other problems they
have observed as well. One-half of the prison population is
medicated, says Peggy Leder, who teaches a Learning Lab and
a pre-GED class. Sometimes, women want to learn but their medication
prevents them from absorbing the information. Inmates who arrive
to class from mental units sometimes create disruptions and
have to be escorted out. Student turnover, due to inmate drafting
where inmates are sent to other prisons, is another problem.
Sometimes everyone remains in class for an extended period
of time, yet there are other times when classes will have only
a few students. The result is that these teachers experience
difficulties that are normally non-existent in regular academic
settings. Every day is different.
Nevertheless, the teachers at BHCF can attest to the willingness
and eagerness the inmates have for learning. Even those with
life sentences participate in the educational programs because
it remains a source of hope. Therefore, it seems as though
the students who take advantage of these programs understand
the importance of education and the opportunities and benefits
it provides, and make use of the support that is available
to them from their teachers.#
