Bill Text: NY A09620 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends provisions relating to creating the smart schools bond act of 2014, in relation to authorizing funding for recorded lessons and online access to recorded lessons; authorizes and directs the state department of education to establish a pilot program to provide school districts with the technology required to digitally record daily classroom lessons and to make recorded lessons available to students and their parents through an online portal; and ensures that there is a certified online tutorial module for each Common Core lesson.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-04-25 - enacting clause stricken [A09620 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A09620-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9620 IN ASSEMBLY January 26, 2018 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SKARTADOS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend part B of chapter 56 of the laws of 2014, relating to creating the smart schools bond act of 2014, in relation to authoriz- ing funding for recorded lessons and online access to recorded lessons; authorizing the state department of education to establish a pilot program to provide school districts with the technology required to digitally record daily classroom lessons and to make recorded lessons available to students and their parents through an online portal; and to ensure that there is a certified online tutorial module for each Common Core lesson The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 4 of part B of chapter 56 of the laws of 2014, 2 relating to creating the smart schools bond act of 2014, is amended to 3 read as follows: 4 § 4. Use of moneys received. The moneys received by the state from the 5 sale of bonds sold pursuant to this act shall be expended pursuant to 6 appropriations for capital projects related to design, planning, site 7 acquisition, demolition, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, 8 or acquisition and/or installation of equipment for the following types 9 of projects: capital projects related to educational technology equip- 10 ment or facilities including but not limited to interactive whiteboards; 11 recorded classroom lessons made available through an online portal; 12 computer servers; desktop and laptop computers, and tablets; high-speed 13 broadband or wireless internet connectivity for schools and communities; 14 capital projects to construct, enhance or modernize educational facili- 15 ties to accommodate pre-kindergarten programs and provide instructional 16 space to replace transportable classroom units; and capital projects to 17 install high-tech security features in school buildings and on school 18 campuses. 19 § 2. (a) The New York state department of education is hereby author- 20 ized and directed to establish a two year pilot program for the purpose 21 of evaluating the impact on student performance of technology to record EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD14292-01-8A. 9620 2 1 classroom lessons and making such lessons available to students through 2 a secure online portal immediately after the lesson, and the feasibility 3 of implementing such technology on a statewide basis. 4 (b) The New York state department of education shall determine an 5 appropriate number of school districts to participate in the pilot 6 program. The number of school districts selected to participate in the 7 pilot program, and the selected schools within each district, shall be 8 based on a representative sample of the state's diverse conditions with 9 respect to the density, income, academic accomplishments and other 10 conditions that such department determines to set districts apart from 11 each other. All grades, from first grade through twelfth grade, shall be 12 included in the sampling size. A school district may request to partic- 13 ipate in the pilot program; however, the final determination of which 14 districts and schools will participate in the program shall be made by 15 such department based on the pilot program requirements. Pilot program 16 requirements may require such department to assign a school district, or 17 schools within a district, to participate in this program, however, such 18 an assignment shall not be made until a majority of the school board 19 approves the assignment by resolution. The size and scope of the pilot 20 program shall be limited to available funds in the smart schools bond 21 fund established by section 97-oooo of the state finance law, to account 22 for two full school years, at no cost to any participating local school 23 district. 24 (c) The New York state department of education shall provide training 25 in the use of the technology to the administration and teachers in 26 participating school districts, including, but not limited to, teaching 27 techniques that create quality video outcomes, best practices to handle 28 unintended consequences such as overcoming camera shyness and techniques 29 to handle situations that may arise from the exposure of classroom 30 sessions to parents, administrators and unauthorized public viewing. 31 (d) All school classrooms within the districts that are selected shall 32 record all daily lessons. Recordings may be temporarily stopped at the 33 teacher's discretion when time is not directed towards lessons or in the 34 event of a classroom disturbance. All district recorded lessons shall be 35 made available to every student attending the school district, and their 36 parents, through a secure online login procedure. Recordings of lessons 37 shall be the property of the school district and the reproduction or 38 misuse of the content without the written consent of the teacher is 39 prohibited and may be punishable as a crime. Participating school 40 districts are prohibited from using the content of the recorded lessons 41 as part of a teacher evaluation, without the written consent of the 42 teacher conducting the lesson. Each camera will be placed in the class- 43 room to provide a front view of the teacher, and instructional aids used 44 during the lesson. 45 § 3. (a) By December first of the year that the pilot program is 46 implemented, the New York state department of education shall provide to 47 the legislature a report containing the following information: (i) eval- 48 uations of student use, satisfaction and test results; (ii) teacher 49 comments and satisfaction with the program; (iii) such department's 50 evaluation of the program and conclusions with respect to full implemen- 51 tation statewide; and (iv) if such department decides to implement the 52 technology program on a statewide basis, a description of such depart- 53 ment's plan to create such a program and to account for the cost for the 54 initial implementation and yearly sustainability. 55 (b) If the New York state department of education decides to implement 56 the technology program on a statewide basis, it shall do so providedA. 9620 3 1 funds are available in the smart schools bond fund established by 2 section 97-oooo of the state finance law. If funds are not available for 3 a full statewide implementation, such department shall, at its 4 discretion, create a plan to use available funds from the smart schools 5 bond fund to implement the plan to the extent that it is possible. In 6 this event, such department shall submit a request to the legislature 7 for additional funding to enable statewide implementation of the 8 program, and to ensure continuous funding for schools that participated 9 in the pilot program. Such request for more funds shall be made to the 10 legislature in a timely manner so as to be included in the budget for 11 the following year. Costs associated with yearly sustainability shall be 12 accounted for by such department, and shall not be passed on to any 13 local school district. 14 § 4. The New York state department of education shall certify a 15 library of online tutorials for each lesson included in the Common Core 16 curriculum for first grade through twelfth grade as given in New York 17 state. When necessary, the state shall contract with a vendor to create 18 content to satisfy this requirement. This library shall be made avail- 19 able to the general public, online, at no cost. 20 § 5. Notwithstanding any law, rule or regulation to the contrary, 21 funds and materials provided to local school districts for this act 22 shall not be included as income in tax cap formulas for the purposes of 23 apportionment. 24 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
