(a) The Department of Education and the Department of Correction shall be jointly responsible for the administration of a prison education program. The Department of Correction and the Department of Education shall work collaboratively through designated agency contracts to accomplish this task. (b) The Department of Education and the Department of Correction shall be responsible for the oversight and management of the prison education program, including academic courses leading towards a high school diploma, life skills, special education, media resource services and vocational technical courses. The Department of Education shall be responsible for the establishment of rules and regulations regarding the administration of academic and vocational programs within the prison education program. The Department of Education shall be responsible for hiring teachers to provide instruction in these programs. The Department of Education shall further supervise these employees, who shall be considered employees of the Department of Education and are subject to all rules and regulations of the Department. Employees who are assigned to the prison education program as teachers that have remained Department of Correction employees shall be supervised by the Department of Education. Teachers who were employees at the time this legislation is enacted, that work for the Department of Correction, shall have the right to transfer to the Department of Education each year upon notification to the Department of Education by April 15 and such transfer shall become effective July 1 of that year. Any position transfer made pursuant to this section shall become permanent. If a remaining Department of Correction teacher position becomes vacant, the position and the associated funding shall be transferred to the Department of Education. Any Department of Education employee working in the prison education program and whose permanent work assignment location resides within or on the campus of a Department of Correction Level 5 or Level 4 facility must submit to the same random drug testing procedure required of Department of Correction employees. (c) The Department of Correction through the wardens of each facility shall be responsible for classifying offenders in and out of the prison education program, providing dedicated facilities that accommodate the educational needs, and disciplining inmates who have displayed inappropriate behavior in the prison education program. The Department of Correction shall conduct security and background checks on all potential prison education personnel and notify the Department of Education as to the results of that security check. (d) When the Department of Education shall make prison education programs available to inmates at a correctional facility, inmates at such facility who are eligible, in accordance with rules and regulations established under subsections (b) and (c) of this section, shall be required to enroll in and attend such courses. (e) An inmate's refusal to participate in compulsory programs of education established under this section does not prohibit an application for sentence modification under § 4217 of this title or eligibility for parole under § 4346(e) of this title, but may be considered by the court under § 4217(b) of this title. An inmate refusing to participate in compulsory programs of education established under this section is subject to disciplinary measures as the Commissioner may establish by regulation. (f) The Department of Education shall continue to provide funding through its discretionary federal special education funds for a portion of the education costs associated with prison inmates aged 18 to 21 years who qualify for special education.
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