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...and others will be out in a few years and it would be beneficial to everybody if they could drop the aimless, unstructured life that got them into criminal activities and get a job with real people in the real world.

What you say is true. And what Newt is proposing would be productive.

Except that...

...we all know that a government bureaucracy is incapable of achieving even modest aims. I.e., would the Bureau of Prisons achieve a better educational outcome than the Public Education bureaucracy?

Yeah, this is the kind of thing that government should do. But can't do...

Except that...

There is no easy solution. Most prisoners want to change while they are in prison. Some do change, most don’t. It is easier to go back to what you were doing than to change once you get out. Remember the proverb about a dog going back to its vomit.

I worked with Innerchange Freedom Initiative a Christian based program. The recidivism was a little better than the normal population but not a lot.

There is no magic bullet here. But the guys in prison are a reflection of us also. There are some things I need to change in my life and I know it like exercise, eating habits, etc, and I try but the reality is I probably won’t. But my bad habits so far, don’t land me in jail.

My observation is that most guys that changed would have changed anyway whether in prison or not. But, sometimes a little thing you do can make a difference in a persons life or at least God can use it.

“working out your salvation with fear and trembling” is not an easy path. Some change instantly, others it is a lifelong process. BUT MOST OF US DO NOT CHANGE........