Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - The University of Wisconsin-Platteville recently hosted several members of the criminal justice and education fields to discuss ways to reduce racial disparity in incarceration rates and levels of educational attainment in k-12 schools. The group had its initial meeting in April and will continue to meet several times this year.

The initiative is headed up by Joe Lomax, a professor in the UWP Department of Criminal Justice. Lomax said he was moved to bring the group together after working on research for grant applications addressing these issues over the past year, saying the enormity of the problem overwhelmed him.

"Of course, none of this is new to me - I've been dealing with this information over a lifetime of teaching and research, but I decided it was time to take a more proactive approach. These disparities are staggering and we need to do something now to change these trends before they suffocate any more of our children's futures," Lomax said.

The goals of the group are to help reverse the trends in both educational attainment and incarceration rates, and attempt to understand how the two intersect, Lomax explained. He pointed to the number of African American males in juvenile corrections (53 percent), is much larger than their in the Wisconsin population at large. Incarceration rates only go down slightly as don't change much as the boys become adults - African Americans make up 46% of the adult incarcerated population. At the same time, African Americans are graduating from k-12 schools in decreasing numbers, a trend that is closely tied to the higher incarceration rate.

In one detention facility, for example, Lomax pointed out that 33 percent of incarcerated youth had exceptional educational needs, an eighth grade average reading level, and a fifth grade average math level.

"We have to ask ourselves, realistically, what kinds of opportunities will be available to them without greater educational attainment and skills? Why kinds of careers will they be able to have? To correct this cycle of poverty and incarceration, we must address what's happening in our schools, first and foremost," said Lomax.

Some of the proposals discussed during the day-long conference included improving in-school and after school educational programming for minority children, such as Schools of Hope, modeled after the United Way program in Madison, and CAN DO schools for minority improvement.

"Part of a CAN DO education would be obtained by having successful minority members speak to groups of students, explain who they are, how they made it and what these students need to do to attain similar successes. This will expose students to minority professionals in medicine, law, real estate, management, sales, teaching, psychology, counseling, research, physical therapy, science, mathematics, social services and many more fields, and illustrate the connection between educational achievement and career attainment," Lomax explained.

The group also considered a number of additional areas for action, such as special programming in colleges dealing with student and teacher education; examining and offering added support to social institutions, including families, churches, and service organizations; seeking support from business and industry, criminal justice agencies, and employment and career preparation services; researching the impact of Wisconsin's incarceration facilities and policies; and discouraging behavior which put youth at risk for violence, drugs and pregnancy.

Attendees at the forum said they were ready to take up these issues and become avid spokespeople for reducing disparities in education and incarceration. Hugo Henry, who has known Lomax for many years, is a retired educator from Beloit.

"We have too many people being incarcerated. The future of our state depends on young people, and if we don't do something now, the long term interests of our state will be jeopardized. We appreciate that your dean has shown this commitment from the top to support our efforts to put this group in place and follow through with some meaningful actions," Henry said.

Henry was referring to Mittie Nimocks, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Education, who spoke to the crowd briefly in the morning and before they broke for the day. During her remarks, Nimocks expressed her ongoing support for the group and noted the presence of an entering UWP freshman in the crowd, Byron Strong.

"I see this a critical opportunity for young people like Byron to get involved and facilitate meaningful change. It's also very important for us as a campus as we try to diversify our students, faculty and staff. If we want to recruit more students and faculty of color, we have to help the state reduce and reverse these trends," she said after the conference.

Strong was attending with his father, Wayne Strong, a lieutenant in the Madison Police Department and member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Officials. The younger strong, who is majoring in criminal justice, said the conference was eye-opening and motivating.

"Some of the information was shocking, like the instances of school shooting and gang violence. But it was also hopeful in the sense that I was able to be in this room with so many people who care about our minority youth," said Byron.

Anyone interested in learning more about the group's efforts may contact Lomax at (608) 342-1621 or lomaxj@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Joe Lomax, professor, UWP Department of Criminal Justice, (608) 342-1621, lomaxj@uwplatt.edu Prepared by: Evelyn Martens, UWP Public Relations, (608)- 342-1194,martense@uwplatt.edu