Bill Text: NY S07647 | 2019-2020 | 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 - Dead) 2020-03-04 - referred to education [S07647 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S07647-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7647 IN SENATE February 4, 2020 ___________ 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. 24 e. The term "year of service" shall mean ten months of continuous 25 full-time service as a teacher during a school year, generally occurring 26 between September first and June thirtieth. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD14070-01-9S. 7647 2 1 2. Application and funding. a. Grants shall be made to school 2 districts for underrepresented certified teacher recruitment and 3 retention activities necessary to increase the number of underrepre- 4 sented certified teachers in underrepresented schools. 5 b. Such grants shall be awarded to school districts, within the limits 6 of funds appropriated therefor, through a competitive process that takes 7 into consideration the magnitude of any shortage of underrepresented 8 certified teachers in the school district, the fiscal capacity of the 9 district, and the number of new certified teachers the school district 10 intends to hire in the coming school year. Grants provided pursuant to 11 this section shall be used only for the purposes enumerated in this 12 section. 13 c. Not more than sixty percent of the funds allocated pursuant to this 14 section shall be made available to any one school district. 15 d. Any school district receiving funds under this section shall main- 16 tain any local effort in the current year equivalent to such effort in 17 the base year for any local program related to the recruitment or 18 retention of teachers or any program that has purposes that are similar 19 to any purpose of this section or the district shall provide a local 20 match to state funds received pursuant to this section. State funds 21 provided pursuant to this section shall not supplant local funds for any 22 purpose similar to the purposes of this section. 23 e. Applications by a school district for funding pursuant to this 24 section shall be filed with the commissioner, in a form determined by 25 the commissioner, by June first of the base year and school districts 26 shall be notified of their grant award by June thirtieth of the base 27 year, provided that in any year such application and award dates may be 28 modified by the commissioner for the reasonable administration of the 29 program. Such application shall include a plan by the school district 30 for the expenditure of the funds in each category of allowable expenses 31 authorized by subdivision three of this section, and such expenditures 32 shall be consistent with such plan and the provisions of this section. 33 f. A person receiving an award pursuant to any subdivision of this 34 section shall not be eligible for an award pursuant to any other subdi- 35 vision of this section in a school year. 36 3. Underrepresented teachers of tomorrow teacher recruitment incentive 37 program. Underrepresented teachers of tomorrow teacher recruitment 38 incentive awards may be available to teachers pursuant to the provisions 39 of this subdivision to attract underrepresented certified teachers to 40 employment in underrepresented schools. 41 a. Eligibility. To be eligible for an award pursuant to this subdivi- 42 sion, an applicant shall: 43 (1) be an underrepresented certified teacher; 44 (2) agree to a service obligation of one year of service in an under- 45 represented school as a condition of receiving an award pursuant to this 46 subdivision; and 47 (3) be employed for the first time as a certified teacher in the 48 school district. 49 b. Application and selection. (1) The board of education shall deter- 50 mine the form of the application and the application process for teach- 51 ers deemed eligible for the award, and shall in its discretion select 52 the number of eligible applicants who will receive an award pursuant to 53 this subdivision. 54 (2) If the number of eligible applicants exceeds the number of awards 55 determined by the board pursuant to this subdivision, then the boardS. 7647 3 1 shall use an objective competitive process based on educational quali- 2 fications to determine which eligible applicants shall receive awards. 3 c. Payment of awards. (1) Annual awards from state and local funds 4 provided for this purpose shall be paid by the board of education to the 5 award recipient. Award recipients shall be entitled to receive awards 6 pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision and such awards shall be 7 in addition to and not part of any award recipient's base salary. 8 (2) The initial annual award shall be ten thousand dollars, and such 9 initial award may be renewable each year, for up to three additional 10 years, provided that the recipient agrees to one year of service as a 11 full-time certified teacher in an underrepresented school for each year 12 of a renewed award and has provided satisfactory service in any prior 13 year in which an initial or renewed award was granted to the recipient. 14 No awards shall be made for less than one school year of service and the 15 sum of any initial and renewed awards shall not exceed forty thousand 16 dollars. 17 Awards made pursuant to this subdivision shall be used to reimburse 18 any educational costs, including those for which student loans may have 19 been taken, incurred by the recipient prior to receipt of the award for 20 certification as a teacher in the public schools of the state. 21 (3) The board of education shall develop and secure from the award 22 recipient a written agreement outlining the service obligation. Such 23 agreement shall include provisions for the recipient to repay the amount 24 of the award to the school district if the recipient fails to complete 25 his or her service obligation in any year where an initial or renewed 26 award is granted, and such repaid amounts shall be deducted from any 27 grant amounts due to the district from the state pursuant to this 28 section. Upon a written appeal by an award recipient, the board of 29 education, in its discretion, may provide a waiver of repayment 30 provisions for an award recipient who fails to complete his or her 31 service requirement for documented reasons of health or other severe 32 hardship, as determined by the commissioner. 33 d. Notification. The board of education shall notify both successful 34 and unsuccessful applicants by September first of any school year for 35 which an initial or renewed award is provided to teachers pursuant to 36 this subdivision. 37 4. Reporting. By November first following the completion of each 38 school year, the commissioner shall report to the governor and the 39 legislature regarding the underrepresented teachers of tomorrow teacher 40 recruitment and retention program. Such report shall list the amount of 41 each school district's total grant pursuant to this section, the uses of 42 the grant, and the number of awards granted by type pursuant to this 43 section, as well as an analysis of the effectiveness of the program in 44 recruiting and retaining underrepresented certified teachers in under- 45 represented schools of the state. 46 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
