While considered a milestone for most, a high school degree is an achievement that has escaped a sizable segment of one population: Georgians in the state prison system. “I’m astounded to see the number of people who come before me on criminal matters who do not have a high school education,” Hall County Superior Court Judge Jason Deal said. Statistics for offenders in Georgia point to a wide gap in educational achievement between the state’s general population and the nearly 60,000 individuals in the state prison system.