Report: More Ohio inmates earn their GED certificates

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

The number of Ohio prisoners earning their high-school equivalency diplomas is up over the past three years, and the achievement rate is higher than the national average, according to a new report.

Ohio’s GED certificate rate is 41.4 per 1,000 inmates — almost 10 points above the national average, according to the report from the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee.

Washington has the highest rate at 74.7, while California has the lowest at eight per 1,000 inmates.

GED certificates awarded by the Ohio Central School System — the prison school district — dropped 34 percent from 2,510 in 2008 to 1,661 in 2010 when staffing was cut, according to the Dayton Daily News. The cuts have continued, but prison officials say they’re making better use of the resources, and the school system issued 2,121 certificates last year.

Ohio operates an adult school in each of the prisons across the state and serves about 21,000 students each year.