Creates city university of New York center for excellence in urban education to enhance the quality of teaching in public schools in NYC; establishes the regents public school teacher loan forgiveness program to allocate awards annually to teachers who agree to teach public school in an area of New York state designated by the board of regents as having a shortage of public school teachers.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2196
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 15, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CUNNINGHAM, ALVAREZ, GIBBS -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to providing for the
enhancement of the quality of teaching in the public schools in New
York city
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 article 125-C
2 to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 125-C
4 CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
5 CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE
6 IN URBAN EDUCATION
7 Section 6284. City university of New York center for excellence in urban
8 education.
9 § 6284. City university of New York center for excellence in urban
10 education. 1. The legislature hereby finds and determines that there is
11 a looming shortage of qualified teachers willing to consider teaching
12 positions in urban schools. This shortage is evident in the state's five
13 largest city school districts and has reached critical proportions in
14 New York city.
15 2. There is hereby established the city university of New York center
16 for excellence in urban education. The center shall be located at a
17 city university of New York college accredited by the national council
18 for accreditation of teacher education.
19 3. The center shall:
20 a. Collaborate with teachers from the city's urban centers to develop
21 and deliver programs to address the particular needs of urban education,
22 including, but not limited to, dealing with severe classroom management
23 problems; issues of conflict and racial sensitivities; understanding the
24 central role schools play in community development; and coping with and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01961-01-5
A. 2196 2
1 compensating for a myriad of family and social issues that impact school
2 performance.
3 b. Partner with urban school districts to (i) ensure high quality
4 clinical education for preservice teacher education students in urban
5 locations; (ii) design and implement programs to recruit children into
6 careers of teaching; (iii) increase the number of minority candidates in
7 teacher preparation programs and increase productivity in teaching
8 fields of critical need including, but not limited to, childhood educa-
9 tion with emphasis in science, mathematics, and reading; early adoles-
10 cence education with emphasis in integrated science-mathematics-technol-
11 ogy; adolescent education in science and mathematics; special education;
12 bilingual special education; and bilingual speech pathology; (iv)
13 attract teacher education students to jobs in urban locations of crit-
14 ical need; and (v) systematically renew both the school and collegiate
15 environments through joint professional development and scholarly activ-
16 ities.
17 c. Provide special capstone programs for students from other
18 colleges/universities in the state to recruit and qualify preservice
19 educators for service in urban settings.
20 § 2. Section 605 of the education law is amended by adding a new
21 subdivision 13 to read as follows:
22 13. Regents teacher loan forgiveness program. Regents teacher loan
23 forgiveness awards shall be awarded annually to teachers who agree to
24 teach public school in an area of New York state designated by the
25 regents as having a shortage of public school teachers. Such awards
26 shall be classified and allocated in accordance with regents rules.
27 a. Eligibility. (1) The applicant must be a resident of New York state
28 and certified.
29 (2) The applicant must agree to teach public school in an area in New
30 York state designated as having a shortage of public school teachers.
31 b. Selection. The commissioner shall establish criteria for the
32 selection of participants in the program. An applicant must satisfy at
33 least one of the criteria established. A priority shall be accorded to
34 any applicant who is completing the second year of the service require-
35 ment and is reapplying for a new award. The criteria shall include but
36 not be limited to the following:
37 (1) reapplication for a new award by a person who is completing the
38 second year of a service requirement;
39 (2) receipt of specific training in an area of certification deter-
40 mined by the regents to be in short supply;
41 (3) receipt of specific training or experience in serving a shortage
42 area;
43 (4) receipt of specific training or experience matching a specific
44 educational need existing in a shortage area; and
45 (5) agreement pursuant to subdivision d of this section to teach
46 public school in an area determined by the regents to have a severe
47 shortage of public school teachers.
48 c. Notification. (1) The commissioner shall then forward approved
49 applications to the president and shall notify unsuccessful applicants;
50 (2) The president shall verify the approved applicants':
51 (i) eligibility; and
52 (ii) total undergraduate and graduate school student expense;
53 (3) The president shall notify applicants of their award entitlement.
54 d. Service requirement. Within such time as the commissioner shall by
55 regulation provide, a recipient of an award shall have agreed to teach
56 public school in a specific area designated as having a shortage of
A. 2196 3
1 public school teachers for a period of ten months for each annual
2 payment to be received by the recipient. Teachers in training who
3 receive an award shall not receive credit toward their required service
4 for time spent in a training program. In no case shall the total number
5 of months of service required be less than twenty-four. The president
6 shall, in consultation with the commissioner, develop and secure from
7 each award recipient, a written agreement to:
8 (1) teach public school in the designated shortage area; and
9 (2) teach full-time and serve as an extra-curricular activity advisor
10 or coach.
11 If a recipient fails to comply fully with such conditions, the presi-
12 dent shall be entitled to receive from such recipient an amount to be
13 determined by the formula:
14 A = 2B (t-s)
15 -----
16 t
17 in which "A" is the amount the president is entitled to recover; "B"
18 is the sum of all payments made to the recipient and the interest on
19 such amount which would be payable if at the times such awards were paid
20 they were loans bearing interest at the maximum prevailing rate; "t" is
21 the total number of months in the recipient's period of obligated
22 services; and "s" is the number of months of service actually rendered
23 by the recipient. Any amount which the president is entitled to recover
24 under this paragraph shall be paid within the five-year period beginning
25 on the date that the recipient failed to comply with this service condi-
26 tion. Nothing in the written agreement shall affect the terms of employ-
27 ment of the individual who shall negotiate, separate and apart from the
28 program, such individual's salary and other forms of employment with an
29 agency, institution or a program in which such individual shall be
30 employed.
31 Any obligation to comply with such provisions as outlined in this
32 section shall be cancelled upon the death of the recipient. The commis-
33 sioner shall make regulations to provide for the waiver or suspension of
34 any financial obligation which would involve extreme hardship.
35 e. Reporting. A recipient of an award shall report annually to the New
36 York state higher education services corporation, and the department on
37 forms prescribed by the president, as to the performance of the required
38 services, commencing with the calendar year in which the recipient
39 begins to teach public school in a shortage area and continuing until
40 the recipient shall have completed, or it is determined that such recip-
41 ient shall not be obligated to complete, the required services. If the
42 recipient shall fail to file any report required hereunder within thirty
43 days of written notice to the recipient, mailed to the address shown on
44 the last application for an award or last report filed, whichever is
45 later, the president of the corporation may impose a fine of up to one
46 thousand dollars. The president shall have the discretion to waive the
47 filing of a report, excuse a delay in filing or a failure to file a
48 report, or waive or reduce any fine imposed for good cause shown.
49 f. Other awards. Award recipients shall be eligible to apply for one
50 additional award.
51 § 3. The education law is amended by adding a new section 677-b to
52 read as follows:
53 § 677-b. Regents public school teacher loan forgiveness program. 1.
54 Number and certification. Eighty regents public school teacher loan
55 forgiveness awards shall be awarded each year. Such awards shall be
56 allocated as provided in article thirteen of this chapter to eligible
A. 2196 4
1 public school teachers as certified to the president by the commission-
2 er.
3 2. Calculation of award amounts. Each award shall consist of two
4 consecutive annual loan forgiveness payments. Each of the annual
5 payments shall be for an amount equal to the total of undergraduate and
6 graduate school student loan expense or ten thousand dollars whichever
7 is less. The president shall be responsible for calculating the dollar
8 amount of each award that eligible candidates may receive from this
9 program. For the purposes of this section, student loan expense shall
10 mean the cumulative total of the annual student loans covering the cost
11 of attendance at an undergraduate institution and/or graduate school.
12 Interest paid or due on student loans that an applicant has taken out
13 for use in paying for such undergraduate and/or graduate education shall
14 be considered eligible for reimbursement under this program.
15 3. Award disbursement. a. Annual award disbursements shall be the
16 responsibility of the president and shall occur prior to the beginning
17 of each of the required terms of service as specified in the service
18 contract. The board of trustees of the higher education services corpo-
19 ration shall adopt rules and regulations regarding criteria for deter-
20 mining successful completion of the service contract and any appeal
21 process that may be required to implement this paragraph upon recommen-
22 dation of the president in consultation with the commissioner.
23 b. The disbursement of the second annual award shall be dependent upon
24 successful completion of the first year requirement of the service
25 contract as defined by the president, as well as other criteria set
26 forth in this section.
27 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
