On line, prison to class

A powerful example of public and private sector cooperation is unfolding these days, in of all places, the Maine Corrections Center in Windham. As part of a program called Maine Computers for Schools and Libraries, prison inmates are refurbishing and updating old computers donated by Maine businesses. Gov. Angus King and the Department of Corrections deserve credit for delivering on this innovative idea.

Proposed during the governor’s 1998 State of the State speech, the computer conversion takes the donated machines and gives them larger hard drives, increased memory, multi-media components, new software, large monitors and Internet capability. Financial support for training to make these upgrades comes from the Libra Foundation, created by the late philanthropist Elizabeth Noyce. Libraries and schools throughout the state are eligible to receive the computers. So far, 240 have been completed, and Rob Jaime, computer technologies program coordinator at Windham, hopes to have 500 completed by December. Anyone who has used advanced computers for writing, research, statistics or experiment modeling knows the advantage they confer.

The Department of Education currently is canvassing the state for needy schools and libraries. With only 15 percent of the schools contacted, they have orders for 800 more computers. Just this week, Charleston Elementary School received a truckful of 20 computers. The Maine National Guard is storing the computer systems at local armories around the state and local recruiters are delivering them.

Ann Davis, director of the Gardiner Library, paid $450 and received three Pentium computers with 17-inch monitors and office suite software. “They’re wonderful,” she said, “it’s the best investment the library has made this year.”

Mr. Jaime notes that the response by Maine businesses has been overwhelming. People’s Heritage Bank donated 96 computer systems, Bath Iron Works and Hannaford Brothers and other businesses also have made major contributions. Small businesses have contributed, too. But the best part of this story is the training and opportunity afforded the inmates who are fortunate enough to get into the program.

Currently, Mr. Jaime says there is room for 12 students, but hopes to expand the program. To qualify, inmates must demonstrate a high level of aptitude for the 8-month, full-time course of study. Once completed, they will be expected to pass a national certification exam for computer technicians, the entry-level certification for the information technology field today. Mr. Jaime says that the beginning salary for these jobs is $25,000 to $40,000 a year, and there is a significant shortage of computer technicians both in Maine and nationally.

“These inmates are going to be able to go out of here,” he says, “and get a top-quality job, which for most of them will be the first time.” What he doesn’t say but could is that these jobs mean the former prisoners will be far less likely to return to the correctional facility, a savings for the state that is far more than monetary.

The cost of the program is minimal, because the computers are donated, the inmates are all volunteer, the National Guard is delivering and storing the computers for free, and the schools and libraries are being charged for the costs of the materials, about $150 to $250 per computer, significantly less than the open market.

Originally the idea of the Detwiler Foundation, Gov. King heard about the program while at a National Governor’s Conference and brought it home to Maine. His decision made Maine the 12th state to sign onto the project nationally and the first to include libraries — a dividend of Maine’s leading commitment to hooking up these educational institutions to the Internet. It was an especially important expansion given Maine’s worse-than-average ratio of students per computer.

This program will change that, letting the state develop a training program that gives inmates a real opportunity for a career, giving businesses a tax deduction and schools and libraries good low-cost computers that they would not have been able to purchase otherwise. And the state gets well-trained computer professionals. Everybody wins.