SEATTLE – What would it take to reform criminal justice and reduce the number of people who return to prison?

A nonprofit group in Washington state might have the answer.

The Prison Scholar Fund helps people behind bars finance their college education. So far, the program has been very successful: Only 4 percent of Scholar Fund students have gone back to prison, compared with more than two-thirds nationally.

Dirk Van Velzen, founder and executive director of the Prison Scholar Fund, says an education puts people in a much better position when they're released.

"When they get out of prison, they don't face homelessness as much,” he points out. “They can get a job, they can pay rent, and of course, if they're working and living well, then they're probably not committing crimes too. So, recidivism really drops."

This week, the fund's success caught the attention of musician and criminal justice activist John Legend's FREEAMERICA organization. Legend chose it and seven other projects for the first round of the Unlocked Futures program.

The program, with support from New Profit and Bank of America, will provide 16 months of support as the entrepreneurs behind these projects expand their reach.

Van Velzen himself is testament to the power of education behind bars. He once was imprisoned himself, and unable to apply for a Pell Grant or find tuition support elsewhere, he turned to his father for help. Within a year of his release, he was enrolled in a social entrepreneurship program at Stanford.

But Van Velzen was struck with the role luck had played in his education. So he started the Prison Scholar Fund while still locked up to give others the same opportunity he had received.

One was a former gang member in Hawaii who was supposed to take out someone in the prison.

"Just the day before he was supposed to do this with the other gang members, he gets our scholarship letter and he decides, 'Hey, maybe I'm not going to go do this hit,’” Van Velzen relates. “’I'm going to go to school instead.'"

Van Velzen says the other gang members ended up killing two people. The man who received the scholarship didn't get off scot-free. He woke up in a hospital three weeks later with 13 broken ribs for pulling out of the hit.

Van Velzen also notes the enormous price tag of the country's criminal justice system, currently costing taxpayers about $80 billion a year and imprisoning more than 2 million people.

He says while educating someone is costly, it also makes them contributors to the economy.

Van Velzen adds that other reforms are needed, too.

"Sentencing guidelines aren't passed down through the hand of God,” he states. “Those are created by society. We decide how much time somebody should do in prison for a drug offense or violent crime or property crime. We decide that, and we also decide how those people are rehabilitated."




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A new Gallup and Lumina Foundation poll unveils a concerning reality: Hoosiers may lack clarity about the true cost of higher education.

The survey reveals merely 23% of U.S. adults without college degrees could estimate the annual net cost of a bachelor's degree from a public college within $5,000 of the actual expense. The repercussions of the financial fog can be overwhelming for students.

Gabriela Espinoza, a 27-year-old nursing student at IUPUI in Indianapolis, said looming debt from school casts a shadow over her future.

"I'm trying to figure out what my debt is going to look like and how long it's going to take me to pay off," Espinoza explained. "I'm luckily in a position right now where I live at home with mom, and she's been helping me out. You know, eventually, I'd like to think about moving out and moving on my own."

Among those polled, 75% believe a bachelor's degree is "extremely" or "very" valuable. However, cost is a major deterrent for many who wish to get a degree. Experts say higher education leaders need to bring clarity to the true cost of college to reduce confusion and provide a pathway for the millions of Americans who have considered college but have not yet enrolled.

For those participating in the poll, 31% have considered stopping coursework within the last three months due to the cost of attending college.

Parker Madison, another nursing student at IUPUI, said the expense is a major concern.

"If you get your college education, you still may be making the same amount as someone without a degree," Madison pointed out. "I feel like sometimes the college education's not even worth it."

More than half, about 56%, of unenrolled adults said cost is a very important reason they are not pursuing a post-high school education. Debt is also a factor for students who stopped out of college, with 35% of students saying loans prevented them from returning to finishing their degree.


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Educators and public school advocates are pushing back on a measure which would consolidate state-funded services that have been an important part of schools in rural Iowa for generations. Some state lawmakers said the funding could be used more efficiently.

Area Education Agencies have been the go-to place for educators in rural Iowa when they need state services at the local level, in all 99 Iowa counties. House Bill 2612 would consolidate the agencies, outsource some of their services and give the state oversight of them.

Mike Owen, deputy director of the group Common Good Iowa, said the agencies have been critical resources for generations.

"The Area Education Agencies have been a very valuable regional system that helps school districts, large and small, with various services that they can't really do on their own," Owen explained. "From special education to media services, to professional development of teachers."

Gov. Kim Reynolds, who signed the measure, said it will provide a more efficient way to spend the state's education dollars. It is scheduled to take effect July 1.

The battle over public school funding has been playing out on a variety of fronts in Iowa, which enjoys a reputation for some of the best-quality public education in the nation. The state recently enacted a private school voucher program, paid for with state dollars.

Owen sees consolidating the Area Education Agencies and outsourcing some of the services they provide as another step in the wrong direction for Iowa's K-12 classrooms.

"It's total disrespect to locally elected decision-makers for schools," Owen contended. "One more example of how education, unfortunately, is being used to pit people against one another, when it is really a unifying value for Iowans."

There are nine Area Education Agencies in Iowa. The State Department of Education will assume oversight of all of them.


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The solar eclipse has sparked more interest in science and technology, especially among young people.

But the saying, 'You can't be what you don't see,' is a reality for youth of color considering a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math career.

A 2024 Black Girls and STEM Report indicates this demographic aspires to become astronauts, engineers and more -- but a lack of Black representation can dampen their enthusiasm.

Crystal Morton is the founder and director of the Girls STEM Institute, which offers courses for girls ages 7 to 18.
She said the emphasis is on relevant cultural content and careers for girls who might not otherwise have access to these experiences.

"That might be doing a session on the science of Black hair," said Morton, "looking at different products to understand the science behind how that product is made, and what's in that product or how it may be impacting them. So, we make our own products. You can be able to look at a label and say, 'Hey, I should be able to pronounce what I'm putting on my skin, or in my hair.'"

She said the students quickly get the connections.

The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics says about one-third of STEM workers are women. But Black workers make up only 18% of the 35 million people employed in STEM fields.

Morton said the Institute's Saturday programs are in partnership with the Indiana University, Indianapolis School of Education. And in the summer, volunteers engage with students about careers in aviation and medicine.

As a former math teacher, Morton said she believes early exposure to this information is key, and said kids begin showing their curiosity as early as third grade.

"Understanding how things happen with technology, that they all need to have different mathematical levels of understanding," said Morton. "They need to have computational thinking skills, because that's the way this world is moving. And I believe that they do have it -- if you just sit back and watch them play, you see the problem solving happen."

A report on Indiana's STEM education priorities shows the number of undergraduate degrees is up since 2015, but the number of STEM-related degrees awarded hasn't moved much.

Hispanic and Black students earn between 3% and 5% of those STEM degrees. They make up 6% and 9% of the state's population, respectively.