Whitt has restarted a General Educational Development program for the jail, and the first eight inmates began their classroom work Thursday. They will meet every Thursday for the next three months before taking the GED test needed to earn their high school equivalency diplomas. "The whole point of the program is to give the inmates an opportunity to educate themselves before they leave the jail," Whitt said. "With that, hopefully they will become a little bit more productive members of society and not become repeat offenders."

GED classes were last offered at the jail in 1998, said Brenda Bishop, adult education director for Montgomery County Schools. Whitt pledged during his election campaign last year to reinstate the program.

He said Thursday he wanted to start small - more than eight students would require an additional monitor to help teach the class - and build a larger program later.

Teaching eight students will cost the sheriff's office about $1,300, he said. The bulk of that cost is for books and materials, he said.

Whitt said he hopes to find outside funding sources once the program grows larger.

Bishop said teaching inside the jail brings no other challenges to educators than teaching adults in any other location. The goal remains the same, she said, to motive adults to study for and pass the GED test.