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 A
GED, Your Ticket To Freedom
MIRS, May 26, 2004
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Gov. Jennifer
Granholm signed into law a bill today that would allow a judge
to require someone to get their high school diploma or their
general education development (GED) certificate before they are
allowed to get off probation.
In signing HB 4434, sponsored by Rep. Virgil SMITH (D-Detroit),
there's a belief that lawbreakers who do end up with an
education are more marketable and less likely to return to a
life of crime, thereby cutting long-range corrections costs.
According to a 1992 State Government News article, 70-75 percent
of prisoners nationwide are high school dropouts. The article
went on to review a 1990 analysis that was done by the
Correctional Education School Authority in Florida that found
higher employment rates and lower recidivism rates among those
offenders who completed either a GED or a vocational program.
Granholm also signed HB 4244, sponsored by Rep. Jack MINORE
(D-Flint), which allows those children under the care of retired
teachers to be covered under their health insurance. The bill
was written in response to a retired teacher who is the legal
guardian of her young grandchild. She noticed that under the
law, only natural born or legally adopted children are covered
under the retired teacher's insurance.
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