STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1192 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 10, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. PERSAUD -- 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 he or she is to be 8 employed, who is fully qualified to teach in an education program and 9 participated in a school district/post-secondary partnership "grow your 10 own" initiative, My Brother's Keeper, Teacher Opportunity Corps program, 11 higher education opportunity program, education opportunity program, or 12 other 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 22 education opportunity program, education opportunity program, or other 23 similar programs, as determined by the commissioner. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04187-01-3S. 1192 2 1 e. The term "year of service" shall mean ten months of continuous 2 full-time service as a teacher during a school year, generally occurring 3 between September first and June thirtieth. 4 2. Application and funding. a. Grants shall be made to school 5 districts for underrepresented certified teacher recruitment and 6 retention activities necessary to increase the number of underrepre- 7 sented certified teachers in underrepresented schools. 8 b. Such grants shall be awarded to school districts, within the limits 9 of funds appropriated therefor, through a competitive process that takes 10 into consideration the magnitude of any shortage of underrepresented 11 certified teachers in the school district, the fiscal capacity of the 12 district, and the number of new certified teachers the school district 13 intends to hire in the coming school year. Grants provided pursuant to 14 this section shall be used only for the purposes enumerated in this 15 section. 16 c. Not more than sixty percent of the funds allocated pursuant to this 17 section shall be made available to any one school district. 18 d. Any school district receiving funds under this section shall main- 19 tain any local effort in the current year equivalent to such effort in 20 the base year for any local program related to the recruitment or 21 retention of teachers or any program that has purposes that are similar 22 to any purpose of this section or the district shall provide a local 23 match to state funds received pursuant to this section. State funds 24 provided pursuant to this section shall not supplant local funds for any 25 purpose similar to the purposes of this section. 26 e. Applications by a school district for funding pursuant to this 27 section shall be filed with the commissioner, in a form determined by 28 the commissioner, by June first of the base year and school districts 29 shall be notified of their grant award by June thirtieth of the base 30 year, provided that in any year such application and award dates may be 31 modified by the commissioner for the reasonable administration of the 32 program. Such application shall include a plan by the school district 33 for the expenditure of the funds in each category of allowable expenses 34 authorized by subdivision three of this section, and such expenditures 35 shall be consistent with such plan and the provisions of this section. 36 f. A person receiving an award pursuant to any subdivision of this 37 section shall not be eligible for an award pursuant to any other subdi- 38 vision of this section in a school year. 39 3. Underrepresented teachers of tomorrow teacher recruitment incentive 40 program. Underrepresented teachers of tomorrow teacher recruitment 41 incentive awards may be available to teachers pursuant to the provisions 42 of this subdivision to attract underrepresented certified teachers to 43 employment in underrepresented schools. 44 a. Eligibility. To be eligible for an award pursuant to this subdivi- 45 sion, an applicant shall: 46 (1) be an underrepresented certified teacher; 47 (2) agree to a service obligation of one year of service in an under- 48 represented school as a condition of receiving an award pursuant to this 49 subdivision; and 50 (3) be employed for the first time as a certified teacher in the 51 school district. 52 b. Application and selection. (1) The board of education shall deter- 53 mine the form of the application and the application process for teach- 54 ers deemed eligible for the award, and shall in its discretion select 55 the number of eligible applicants who will receive an award pursuant to 56 this subdivision.S. 1192 3 1 (2) If the number of eligible applicants exceeds the number of awards 2 determined by the board pursuant to this subdivision, then the board 3 shall use an objective competitive process based on educational quali- 4 fications to determine which eligible applicants shall receive awards. 5 c. Payment of awards. (1) Annual awards from state and local funds 6 provided for this purpose shall be paid by the board of education to the 7 award recipient. Award recipients shall be entitled to receive awards 8 pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision and such awards shall be 9 in addition to and not part of any award recipient's base salary. 10 (2) The initial annual award shall be ten thousand dollars, and such 11 initial award may be renewable each year, for up to three additional 12 years, provided that the recipient agrees to one year of service as a 13 full-time certified teacher in an underrepresented school for each year 14 of a renewed award and has provided satisfactory service in any prior 15 year in which an initial or renewed award was granted to the recipient. 16 No awards shall be made for less than one school year of service and the 17 sum of any initial and renewed awards shall not exceed forty thousand 18 dollars. 19 Awards made pursuant to this subdivision shall be used to reimburse 20 any educational costs, including those for which student loans may have 21 been taken, incurred by the recipient prior to receipt of the award for 22 certification as a teacher in the public schools of the state. 23 (3) The board of education shall develop and secure from the award 24 recipient a written agreement outlining the service obligation. Such 25 agreement shall include provisions for the recipient to repay the amount 26 of the award to the school district if the recipient fails to complete 27 his or her service obligation in any year where an initial or renewed 28 award is granted, and such repaid amounts shall be deducted from any 29 grant amounts due to the district from the state pursuant to this 30 section. Upon a written appeal by an award recipient, the board of 31 education, in its discretion, may provide a waiver of repayment 32 provisions for an award recipient who fails to complete his or her 33 service requirement for documented reasons of health or other severe 34 hardship, as determined by the commissioner. 35 d. Notification. The board of education shall notify both successful 36 and unsuccessful applicants by September first of any school year for 37 which an initial or renewed award is provided to teachers pursuant to 38 this subdivision. 39 4. Reporting. By November first following the completion of each 40 school year, the commissioner shall report to the governor and the 41 legislature regarding the underrepresented teachers of tomorrow teacher 42 recruitment and retention program. Such report shall list the amount of 43 each school district's total grant pursuant to this section, the uses of 44 the grant, and the number of awards granted by type pursuant to this 45 section, as well as an analysis of the effectiveness of the program in 46 recruiting and retaining underrepresented certified teachers in under- 47 represented schools of the state. 48 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.