Prison officials said the cuts were necessary because of the tight state budget. However, the state is providing $65 million in emergency funding for 4,000 new prison beds to address expected overcrowding.

Many rehabilitation personnel have been laid off. Corrections spokesman Sterling Ivey said the priority is keeping prisoners locked up.

"We've got 77,000 inmates in the Florida prison system that we're required to supervise, feed, and clothe seven days a week, and that costs money," he said.

But Bill Woolley, who ran the prison education programs before quitting his job last month, said the cuts would result in more people in prison. Even research conducted by the Corrections Department found that inmates who received job training, high-school equivalency degrees, and rehabilitation services are less likely to harm new victims and return to prison.

"The new philosophy is that they are in the care, custody, and control business," said Woolley. "They're not in the business of necessarily educating them and putting them in jobs."

Gov. Jeb Bush said he disagrees with the cuts in education and rehabilitation services. A supporter of faith-based rehabilitation programs, Bush said he had proposed making cuts elsewhere, but the legislature moved ahead with its own agenda.

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