The FIRST STEP Act will come up for a vote in the Senate this week, bolstered by bipartisan support for reducing sentences for nonviolent offenders. Much of the fanfare around the bill misses its biggest contribution to cutting crime, saving money, and improving lives: a commitment of $250 million over 5 years for training and education programs. If and when the FIRST STEP Act takes effect, the education that happens inside federal prisons will determine the outcomes we experience outside of them.

Getting released from prison doesn’t do someone much good if they’re just going to end up back behind bars within a short time. Most Americans have no idea how high the recidivism rate is. A study by the United States Sentencing Commission found that 49.3 percent of people released from federal prison in 2005 were arrested again within the next 8 years. Nearly 1 in 4 of those released were reconvicted in the same time frame.