ALBANY — A proposal by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to provide prison inmates with college educations is moving ahead — but with private funds.
A source familiar with the governor’s plan said nonprofit groups have stepped forward to raise the money for college classes behind bars, estimated at about $5,000 per year per inmate.
The need for private funds is the result of the state Senate refusing to consider the use of government money to educate cons. The funding groups were not identified.
“The interest is there. The concept generated a lot of interest among not-for-profits who said, ‘I believe in this,’ ” the source said.
In February, Cuomo called for expanding college courses to 10 more of the state’s 70 prisons. Such a program is already in place at six prisons, privately funded through Bard College. The governor did not place a price tag on his initiative.
On another budget issue, a source close to Cuomo said it would be a “very big challenge” for the de Blasio administration to ramp up its pre-kindergarten program to have 53,000 full-day seats ready to go by September.
“I know he is going to work very hard to get it done,” said the source. “[But] I don’t know operationally how fast you can get units online. You are not going to know until they produce the buildings and the teachers.”