(MMD Newswire) -- Throughout the United States, especially in the poor neighborhoods of large cities, too many public schools are failing to reach, teach, and engage thousands of struggling youths. Whether because of poor educational backgrounds, reluctance to be in the school environment, or both, they are failed by the schools they attend. As a result of these failures, thousands of school-age youths find themselves amongst the rising numbers of incarcerated juveniles. These students have already struggled greatly before embarking on the path that leads them to prison. To make matters worse, once arrested and awaiting trial in juvenile detention centers or adult county jails across the nation, these school-aged youths find themselves part of a system that fails to educate them.
Hilderbrand Pelzer III, an award-winning educator, has created a solution to help provide the education that incarcerated juveniles so desperately need. He shares his experiences in his new book, Unlocking Potential: Organizing a School Inside a Prison (Outskirts Press, 2011; https://www.hp3-unlockingpotential.com). Stressing the power of education and importance of leadership, the book covers varied topics such as the assumptions that have existed about the capacities and capabilities of schools for incarcerated youths inside juvenile detention centers and adult county jails. Heralded by the Midwest Book Review as "strongly recommended for those in charge of education of imprisoned youth" and called " a guide" for those facing educational challenges, the book has received interest from scholars, public officials and experts from around the world in the public education, correctional education, prison administration, human services, and criminal justice fields.
"It is refreshing to see information and concerns navigated towards our unique situation," states Robert Leyrer, a long-time correctional educator.
Nationally, educational services for incarcerated juveniles are viewed as abysmal. Reform of juvenile correctional education is a decade or more behind reform in regular public schools and has simply not been a priority. With more and more public school students dropping out of school and traveling the school-to-prison pipeline, there is a growing national consensus that more must be done to educate them during their confinement in juvenile detention facilities and adult county jails in the United States.
"Kids are in a jail cell all day long for months and months and months...They're entitled to receive an education, but no one has worked out how to provide that educations" states Sen. Evie Hudak, D-Westminster, Colorado.
In California, there was a multi-pronged and statewide drive to end inhumane and illegal conditions in California county juvenile halls. Among the conditions found in California county juvenile halls is poor quality schooling.
After a long frustrating wait for action on any juvenile justice-related legislation, the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act - now known as No Child Left Behind - offers advocates a chance to improve the plight of our incarcerated juveniles. The Education Act sets standards for schooling in juvenile facilities, which are vital to improving a youth's chances of staying out of such institutions in the future.
Unlocking Potential: Organizing a School Inside a Prison (Outskirts Press, 2011), draws on Pelzer's professional experiences and his nationally recognized work within the Philadelphia Prison System, the fifth largest urban county jail system in the nation.
he book is highly recommended for school districts, juvenile detention facilities, adult correctional facilities, and educational organizations responsible for educating incarcerated juveniles.
"Professionals working with incarcerated juveniles can use this book to review their educational practices; examine their assumptions about the capacities and capabilities of schools in correctional facilities; plan action to overcome legal, logistical, and educational dilemmas; design schools that align with a deliberate correctional education purpose; and raise correctional educational dialogue to the level that such work merits," states Hilderbrand Pelzer III.
Through a great narrative voice, Pelzer demonstrates passion for the subject matter and presents his book in a highly-researched and thorough manner. He gives the reader a lot to consider and presents an under-recognized aspect of public education that is of growing importance - correctional education. While his knowledge and experience lends credence to the book's content, Pelzer presents his material in a simple and straightforward manner that just about anyone could understand and benefit from reading it. He considers his audience well and includes details that add to the substance and credibility of his writing and brings his great expertise to the subject matter.
"Hilderbrand Pelzer shares his experience and practice in working with the most at-risk population of incarcerated youth. His educational model is of value to all educational settings as his core belief lies in building relationships with all students," states Dr. Frank Garritano, a renowned educator in Pennsylvania.
Hilderbrand has international accolades for his work in education. Prince Andrew, Duke of York, lauded his school leadership and extraordinary ability to inspire public school students to want to learn. Additionally he has received the Queen Smith Award, which is presented by the Council of the Great City Schools, the only national organization exclusively representing the needs of urban public schools. The award is presented annually to an educator, who is chosen from among sixty-five of the largest urban school districts in the country, for significant contributions to urban education and the community.
Unlocking Potential: Organizing a School Inside a Prison (Outskirts Press, 2011) is available at Amazon.com, Amazon Kindle, barnesandnoble.com, and OutskirtsPress.com. More information about "Unlocking Potential: Organizing a School Inside a Prison and Hilderbrand Pelzer III can be found at www.hp3-unlockingpotential.com.
Media Contact:
To learn more about Unlocking Potential: Organizing a School Inside a Prison or to contact Hilderbrand Pelzer III, visit https://www.hp3-unlockingpotential.com or email thehp3group@aol.com or call 215-651-2156.
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