“Education on a Leash: How Colorado Chains Knowledge to Control”

-

 


They say education is the key to rehabilitation.

They say it’s a path to transformation, self-worth, and new beginnings.

But inside Colorado’s prison system, education isn’t a right. It’s a reward.

And like everything else under the incentive model, it’s not given freely—it’s weaponized.

Here, knowledge isn’t light.

It’s leverage.

And if you want it, you’d better crawl for it.




The Illusion of Opportunity

Ask the Department of Corrections about rehabilitation and they’ll proudly tell you about their college programs, vocational training, and GED access.

They’ll point to stats, press releases, and maybe even a few success stories.

But what they won’t say is this:

In Colorado prisons, education is locked behind behavioral compliance.

You don’t get into a college program because you’re ready to change.

You get in because you haven’t had a write-up in X months.

Because you’ve been cleared by a case manager.

Because your housing status meets the shifting definition of “program eligible.”

And if you don’t play by the system’s unwritten rules?

You stay stuck in ignorance.

They’ve turned personal growth into a privilege.

They’ve turned knowledge into a leash.




You Want to Learn? Then Obey.

Imagine this:

You’re serving a long sentence. You’ve found your purpose. You want to pursue higher education, maybe a college degree or vocational license. You’re finally ready to grow.

But DOC says:

  • You had a write-up 9 months ago? Disqualified.

  • You’re not in the right unit? Denied.

  • You refused to work during lockdown? Application rejected.

  • You’re not on “incentive”? Access closed.

It doesn’t matter who you are now.

It only matters who they say you are.

Education is supposed to open doors.

But in Colorado, it’s another lock on your cage.




Indoctrination Over Illumination

Let’s be clear:

Colorado DOC doesn’t want thinkers.

They want performers.

They want “model inmates” who follow orders, nod quietly, and pose no political risk.

And the education system they’ve built reflects that.

They offer:

  • Basic, watered-down coursework

  • Religious and recovery-based content with state oversight

  • Job prep classes for low-wage labor, not liberation

What you won’t find is:

  • African-centered curriculum

  • Critical race theory

  • Social justice, political theory, or prisoner-led dialogue

  • Business building, real estate, tech entrepreneurship

  • Anything that produces independent minds

Because free thinkers aren’t good property.

And educated prisoners become revolutionaries.

So they train us to be workers—not leaders.

To get jobs—not justice.

To ask for access—not liberation.




The Cost of Educational Gatekeeping

When education becomes a privilege instead of a right, we all lose.

  • Men with 15, 20, 30 years to do are denied the very thing that could reshape their futures.

  • People who have changed are kept stuck in a system that still sees them as who they were.

  • Brilliant minds die in cages of ignorance while empty policies parade as progress.

It’s spiritual violence.

You can see the light—but only if you kneel.

And guess who gets left behind most often?

The poor.

The angry.

The unpolished.

The ones who need it most.




Real Education Liberates

Education behind bars should be sacred.

It should be available to every man and woman who reaches for it—not as a reward, but as a human right.

Real education:

  • Challenges systems

  • Cultivates leadership

  • Heals trauma

  • Produces thinkers who return to the world prepared to lead it, not just work in it

But DOC doesn’t want leaders.

They want quiet.

They want clean conduct sheets, not empowered minds.

So they put the key to your evolution in a cage—and call it policy.




Final Word

They say knowledge is power.

But in Colorado’s prisons, power is only given to the obedient.

Education is no longer about growth.

It’s about control.

It’s about offering the illusion of progress while locking the real path behind a thousand layers of red tape and silence.

And we’re done playing along.

Every incarcerated person with the will to learn should have the tools to do it—regardless of their paperwork, housing status, or politics.

Because if we’re going to talk about rehabilitation,

then education can’t be on a leash.

It has to be a lifeline.

Next in the series: “The Incentive Illusion: When Control Masquerades as Privilege.”


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Lawyer Fell Asleep During Trial—And the Justice System Let It Happen

-
Image
  By Chaddrick Thomas In the fall of 2003, I sat in a federal courtroom in Tampa, Florida, on trial for bank robbery. It was United States v. Chaddrick Thomas, Bobby Lamar Albritton, and James Range. Three of us on trial. Four former co-defendants turned government witnesses: Scotty Carpenter, David Vicker, Ava Jackson, and Nene Burns. The odds were already stacked. But nothing—nothing—could have prepared me for what happened next. My court-appointed attorney, Thomas Ostrander, fell asleep during trial. Repeatedly. Not Just a Quick Nap—He Was Snoring He didn’t doze off for a second. He wasn’t just tired. He slept. Hard. He snored in open court. He missed witness testimony. He missed cross-examinations. He missed pieces of my life being carved away one statement at a time. At one point, I nudged him awake and he jumped up shouting, “No questions for the witness, Your Honor!” But there was no one on the stand. The U.S. Marshal, Lisa Alphonso, saw it. The Court Security Officer saw it...
Read more

The Church That Never Let Go:

-
Image
  A Love Letter to Antioch Missionary Baptist Church By Chaddrick Thomas There’s a scripture in Proverbs that says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (Proverbs 17:17). After more than two decades in prison, I can tell you with every fiber of my being that these words are not just poetry—they’re a living truth. For me, that truth has a name. It’s not just an idea or a concept. It’s a place. A people. A home. That truth is Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Plant City, Florida. I grew up in the pews of that little church on Horton Road. I sang in the choir, my voice cracking as a young boy trying to keep up with the seasoned saints. I didn’t know then what that church would come to mean to me. Back then, church was just Sunday tradition. It was fried chicken after service, choir rehearsal during the week, and Vacation Bible School in the summer. But now, as I sit in a cell surrounded by concrete and steel, I realize something I didn’t see befor...
Read more

“Survival for Sale: How Colorado’s Prison System Turned Human Needs into Behavioral Currency”

-
Image
  By Chaddrick Thomas When you think of prison incentives, you might imagine rewards: extra phone time, a bonus commissary item, maybe early access to rec. But in Colorado, incentives don’t enhance your life. They determine whether or not you survive it. This isn’t a system built on growth. It’s built on control. And the DOC’s weapon of choice? Necessity. The Bait-and-Starve Blueprint Let’s be clear: nothing about this is accidental. Years ago, incarcerated people across Colorado’s prisons had access to basic, humane standards of living: Decent food with some variety and nutrition Mattresses that didn’t destroy your spine Educational programs that were hard-earned but fairly accessible A basic expectation of medical care—even if flawed Then came the Incentive Pod system. Quietly, strategically, and systematically, the Department began to strip these essentials from general population units. Food quality declined. Mattresses were replaced with glorified g...
Read more