Accountability

I was watching a really vile movie tonight, and it started me thinking about the American penal system. According to the Wesleyan University “Hermes Index”, as of 1985 the US Government spent a total of $20 billion on prisons and corrections, and $16 billion on education.

I hear an awful lot about holding our schools accountable for results, and measuring to make sure our students are really learning. Why isn’t there a similar emphasis on accountability in our penal systems? Shouldn’t a prison be measured on whether their prisoners are being rehabilitated, and taken to task when a former inmate is incarcerated again?