Bill Text: NY S00519 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes the underrepresented teachers of tomorrow teacher recruitment and retention program to attract and retain underrepresented certified teachers in schools which have an underrepresentation of underrepresented certified teachers; provides for grants and procedures for applying for such grants and eligibility requirements for fund distribution.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2025-02-12 - referred to education [S00519 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-S00519-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 519 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. PERSAUD, COONEY, JACKSON, LIU, MAY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing the underrepresented teachers of tomorrow teacher recruitment and retention program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 3612-a 2 to read as follows: 3 § 3612-a. Underrepresented teachers of tomorrow teacher recruitment 4 and retention program. 1. Definitions. a. The term "underrepresented 5 certified teacher" means a teacher who holds a permanent or professional 6 state teaching certificate appropriate to the teaching position, includ- 7 ing the subject area if applicable, in which they are to be employed, 8 who is fully qualified to teach in an education program and participated 9 in a school district/post-secondary partnership "grow your own" initi- 10 ative, My Brother's Keeper, Teacher Opportunity Corps program, higher 11 education opportunity program, education opportunity program, or other 12 similar program. 13 b. The term "school district" shall mean a common, union free, 14 central, central high school, or city school district. 15 c. The term "board of education" shall mean the governing board of any 16 public school or public school district defined in paragraph b of this 17 subdivision. 18 d. The term "underrepresented school" shall mean a school building 19 which has an underrepresentation of certified teachers who participated 20 in a school district/post-secondary partnership "grow your own" initi- 21 ative, My Brother's Keeper, Teacher Opportunity Corps program, higher EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02187-01-5S. 519 2 1 education opportunity program, education opportunity program, or other 2 similar programs, as determined by the commissioner. 3 e. The term "year of service" shall mean ten months of continuous 4 full-time service as a teacher during a school year, generally occurring 5 between September first and June thirtieth. 6 2. Application and funding. a. Grants shall be made to school 7 districts for underrepresented certified teacher recruitment and 8 retention activities necessary to increase the number of underrepre- 9 sented certified teachers in underrepresented schools. 10 b. Such grants shall be awarded to school districts, within the limits 11 of funds appropriated therefor, through a competitive process that takes 12 into consideration the magnitude of any shortage of underrepresented 13 certified teachers in the school district, the fiscal capacity of the 14 district, and the number of new certified teachers the school district 15 intends to hire in the coming school year. Grants provided pursuant to 16 this section shall be used only for the purposes enumerated in this 17 section. 18 c. Not more than sixty percent of the funds allocated pursuant to this 19 section shall be made available to any one school district. 20 d. Any school district receiving funds under this section shall main- 21 tain any local effort in the current year equivalent to such effort in 22 the base year for any local program related to the recruitment or 23 retention of teachers or any program that has purposes that are similar 24 to any purpose of this section or the district shall provide a local 25 match to state funds received pursuant to this section. State funds 26 provided pursuant to this section shall not supplant local funds for any 27 purpose similar to the purposes of this section. 28 e. Applications by a school district for funding pursuant to this 29 section shall be filed with the commissioner, in a form determined by 30 the commissioner, by June first of the base year and school districts 31 shall be notified of their grant award by June thirtieth of the base 32 year, provided that in any year such application and award dates may be 33 modified by the commissioner for the reasonable administration of the 34 program. Such application shall include a plan by the school district 35 for the expenditure of the funds in each category of allowable expenses 36 authorized by subdivision three of this section, and such expenditures 37 shall be consistent with such plan and the provisions of this section. 38 f. A person receiving an award pursuant to any subdivision of this 39 section shall not be eligible for an award pursuant to any other subdi- 40 vision of this section in a school year. 41 3. Underrepresented teachers of tomorrow teacher recruitment incentive 42 program. Underrepresented teachers of tomorrow teacher recruitment 43 incentive awards may be available to teachers pursuant to the provisions 44 of this subdivision to attract underrepresented certified teachers to 45 employment in underrepresented schools. 46 a. Eligibility. To be eligible for an award pursuant to this subdivi- 47 sion, an applicant shall: 48 (1) be an underrepresented certified teacher; 49 (2) agree to a service obligation of one year of service in an under- 50 represented school as a condition of receiving an award pursuant to this 51 subdivision; and 52 (3) be employed for the first time as a certified teacher in the 53 school district. 54 b. Application and selection. (1) The board of education shall deter- 55 mine the form of the application and the application process for teach- 56 ers deemed eligible for the award, and shall in its discretion selectS. 519 3 1 the number of eligible applicants who will receive an award pursuant to 2 this subdivision. 3 (2) If the number of eligible applicants exceeds the number of awards 4 determined by the board pursuant to this subdivision, then the board 5 shall use an objective competitive process based on educational quali- 6 fications to determine which eligible applicants shall receive awards. 7 c. Payment of awards. (1) Annual awards from state and local funds 8 provided for this purpose shall be paid by the board of education to the 9 award recipient. Award recipients shall be entitled to receive awards 10 pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision and such awards shall be 11 in addition to and not part of any award recipient's base salary. 12 (2) The initial annual award shall be ten thousand dollars, and such 13 initial award may be renewable each year, for up to three additional 14 years, provided that the recipient agrees to one year of service as a 15 full-time certified teacher in an underrepresented school for each year 16 of a renewed award and has provided satisfactory service in any prior 17 year in which an initial or renewed award was granted to the recipient. 18 No awards shall be made for less than one school year of service and the 19 sum of any initial and renewed awards shall not exceed forty thousand 20 dollars. 21 Awards made pursuant to this subdivision shall be used to reimburse 22 any educational costs, including those for which student loans may have 23 been taken, incurred by the recipient prior to receipt of the award for 24 certification as a teacher in the public schools of the state. 25 (3) The board of education shall develop and secure from the award 26 recipient a written agreement outlining the service obligation. Such 27 agreement shall include provisions for the recipient to repay the amount 28 of the award to the school district if the recipient fails to complete 29 their service obligation in any year where an initial or renewed award 30 is granted, and such repaid amounts shall be deducted from any grant 31 amounts due to the district from the state pursuant to this section. 32 Upon a written appeal by an award recipient, the board of education, in 33 its discretion, may provide a waiver of repayment provisions for an 34 award recipient who fails to complete their service requirement for 35 documented reasons of health or other severe hardship, as determined by 36 the commissioner. 37 d. Notification. The board of education shall notify both successful 38 and unsuccessful applicants by September first of any school year for 39 which an initial or renewed award is provided to teachers pursuant to 40 this subdivision. 41 4. Reporting. By November first following the completion of each 42 school year, the commissioner shall report to the governor and the 43 legislature regarding the underrepresented teachers of tomorrow teacher 44 recruitment and retention program. Such report shall list the amount of 45 each school district's total grant pursuant to this section, the uses of 46 the grant, and the number of awards granted by type pursuant to this 47 section, as well as an analysis of the effectiveness of the program in 48 recruiting and retaining underrepresented certified teachers in under- 49 represented schools of the state. 50 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
