In California, charter schools receive state funding. The Sheriff's Department developed a curriculum and presented it to the San Francisco school board for approval. Earlier this month, the Five Keys Charter School opened. Hennessey chose the name to remind inmates of the importance of five key things: education, employment, family, community, and recovery.

"They're committed to breaking the cycle of recidivism by closing the achievement gap," said California Charter Schools Association's Gary Larson. "It's a very innovative solution that sets them apart." Larson believes this school is the only one of its kind in the nation.

The school will receive $1.3 million this year from the state to educate 260 inmates with 10 teachers. To keep the funding, the Sheriff's Department must prove its students are learning. With an average jail stay of 90 days, Five Keys will test students every month.

The inmates weren't exactly "on anyone's hit parade," said program administrator Sunny Schwartz. But to those who contend that criminals should not be offered education, she replies that inmates "need to hold up a mirror, not kneel in pebbles."

English teacher Alice Hargis gave each of her students a composition notebook to write essays and record their thoughts. Students also record words they want to learn. One page read "gentrification," "mutable," "able," "letaraly," and "deploma."