Rule, 040731 PAAGO, AGO 9

• Case Date: April 07, 1931
• Court: Pennsylvania

Honorable James N. Rule AGO 9 Opinion No. 9 Pennsylvania Attorney General Opinions Opinion of the Attorney General April 7, 1931          School Districts—Providing Instruction to Inmates of Penal Institutions— Board of Education, Phila.—School Buildings—Works of Art—/Competitive Bidding—Advertising—Safety Patrols.          1. The public school system of the State cannot be used, in the absence of statutory authority as an aid in the administration of penal institutions or the rehabilitation of persons convicted of crime.          2. Works of art designed solely for ornamental purposes may be furnished the Board of Education of the City of Philadelphia, without the necessity of advertising- or competitive bidding. Commercial reproductions of the originals, not the result of the handiwork of the artist, require advertising for competitive bids before contracts can be awarded.          3. Student Patrol. (See O'Hara-Pub. Inst. Op. 1929-30. P. 177.)          Honorable James N. Rule,          Acting Superintendent of Public Instruction,          Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.          Sir: We have your request under date of March 5, 1931, for our opinion upon certain questions which we state and answer seriatim.

"1. The School Board has been requested by the Trustees of the Philadelphia County Prison to provide instruction at the prison for persons under the age of 21. Has the School Board the right, under the code, to send teachers to the prison (a) for the instruction of persons under the age of 21, and (b) if subsequently requested so to do, for the education of persons over the age of 211 years?"

         The public policy of this State as evidenced by its Constitution, statutes, and judicial decisions, clearly distinguishes between the purposes, objects and administration of its public schools and the regulation and discipline, of the students therein, on the one hand, and the purposes, objects, and administration of its penal institutions and the regulation and discipline of prisoners therein. The rehabilitation of those convicted of crime to the end that they may return to the free society of their fellowmen fortified against temptation to further criminal acts, by discipline, education, and vocational training, is commendable; is in harmony with penological philosophy; and is a partial insurance against future crime and its attendant social and economic burden.          Notwithstanding the desirability of the attainment of these...