Now, were back at 500. We have gone through 'Right Sizing' and they say we're where we should be, but we have fewer program staff than when I started. But as the inmate population grew and the state budget varied, the state changed the standard to one instructor for 15 inmates, and now it is up to 20 inmates for each vocational instructor. The standard changes as the budget dictates. Real challenge to teach You can't compare teaching in a conventional high school classroom with prison teaching, Donahue says.
DOCS keeps moving inmates from one prison to another for security reasons.
But that mobility wreaks havoc with instruction. I teach drafting, and you can't learn that in just a few weeks. It takes time. I can't stand up in front of a class and lecture, because every inmate in there is at a different level, since they all started at different times. I get someone new almost every week.