Enacts the "media literacy act"; requires teachers and library media specialists to complete professional development related to media literacy education; requires a school library media specialist in each elementary, intermediate, middle, junior high and senior high school; directs the commissioner of education to appoint a media literacy advisory committee to study the teaching of media literacy; creates a media literacy advisory committee to annually review policy and procedures on media literacy.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5821
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 20, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to enacting the "media
literacy act"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "media literacy act".
3 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 3006-a of the education law, as added by
4 section 2 of subpart C of part EE of chapter 56 of the laws of 2015, is
5 amended and a new subdivision 4 is added to read as follows:
6 2. a. During each five-year registration period beginning on or after
7 July first, two thousand sixteen, an applicant for registration shall
8 successfully complete a minimum of one hundred hours of continuing
9 teacher and leader education, as defined by the commissioner. The
10 department shall issue rigorous standards for courses, programs, and
11 activities, that shall qualify as continuing teacher and leader educa-
12 tion pursuant to this section. For purposes of this section, a peer
13 review teacher, or a principal acting as an independent trained evalu-
14 ator, conducting a classroom observation as part of the teacher evalu-
15 ation system pursuant to section three thousand twelve-d of this article
16 may credit such time towards [his or her] their continuing teacher and
17 leader effectiveness requirements.
18 b. During each five-year registration period beginning on or after a
19 date which shall be determined by the commissioner, any teacher who is
20 an applicant for registration shall successfully complete a minimum of
21 five hours of professional development related to media literacy educa-
22 tion and any library media specialist shall complete a minimum of
23 fifteen hours of professional development related to media literacy
24 education, as defined by the commissioner. Such professional develop-
25 ment related to media literacy education shall be counted toward the one
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05708-01-5
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1 hundred hours of continuing teacher and leader education required by
2 paragraph a of this subdivision. The commissioner shall require that:
3 (i) professional development related to media literacy education
4 incorporates the principles and practices of the department's culturally
5 responsive-sustaining framework;
6 (ii) professional development related to media literacy education is
7 provided by or in coordination with a library media specialist or an
8 employee from a school district's library system in every school
9 district;
10 (iii) library media specialists in every school district receive
11 specific training in how to provide professional development related to
12 media literacy education to teachers of all grade levels and subject
13 areas contained in their schools, which shall include instruction on how
14 to effectively integrate media literacy education into such teachers'
15 curricula; and
16 (iv) the department creates and provides model curricula, teaching and
17 professional development resources on its website, which incorporate
18 media literacy education.
19 c. Nothing in this section shall limit the ability of local school
20 districts to agree pursuant to collective bargaining to additional hours
21 of professional development or continuing teacher or leader education
22 above the minimum requirements set forth in this section.
23 [c.] d. A certified individual who has not satisfied the continuing
24 teacher and leader education requirements shall not be issued a five-
25 year registration certificate by the department and shall not practice
26 unless and until a registration or conditional registration certificate
27 is issued as provided in subdivision three of this section. For purposes
28 of this subdivision, "continuing teacher and leader education require-
29 ments" shall mean activities designed to improve the teacher or leader's
30 pedagogical and/or leadership skills, targeted at improving student
31 performance, including but not limited to formal continuing teacher and
32 leader education activities. Such activities shall promote the profes-
33 sionalization of teaching and be closely aligned to district goals for
34 student performance which meet the standards prescribed by regulations
35 of the commissioner. To fulfill the continuing teacher and leader educa-
36 tion requirement, programs must be taken from sponsors approved by the
37 department, which shall include but not be limited to school districts,
38 pursuant to the regulations of the commissioner.
39 4. For the purposes of this section, "library media specialist" shall
40 mean an individual employed by a school district as a library media
41 specialist pursuant to 8 NYCRR 91.2.
42 § 3. The education law is amended by adding a new section 286 to read
43 as follows:
44 § 286. School library media specialist. 1. Notwithstanding any other
45 provision of law to the contrary and subject to the provisions of subdi-
46 vision two of this section, each school district shall employ a certi-
47 fied school library media specialist in each elementary, intermediate,
48 middle, junior high and senior high school within three years of the
49 effective date of this section.
50 2. Employment of certified school library media specialist shall be in
51 accordance with the following standards:
52 a. In each school with an enrollment of not more than one hundred
53 students, a certified school library media specialist shall be employed
54 as fifteen-hundredths of a full-time equivalent staff member;
55 b. In each school with an enrollment of more than one hundred but not
56 more than three hundred students, a certified school library media
A. 5821 3
1 specialist shall be employed as a three-tenths of a full-time equivalent
2 staff member;
3 c. In each elementary or secondary school with an enrollment of more
4 than three hundred but no more than five hundred students, a certified
5 school library media specialist shall be employed as a one-half of a
6 full-time equivalent staff member;
7 d. In each school with an enrollment of more than five hundred
8 students, a certified school library media specialist shall be employed
9 as a full-time equivalent staff member;
10 e. In each school with an enrollment of more than one thousand
11 students but no more than two thousand students, a certified school
12 library media specialist and a support staff person shall be employed as
13 a full-time equivalent staff member;
14 f. (i) In each school with an enrollment of at least two thousand
15 students, two certified school library media specialists and two support
16 staff persons shall be employed as a full-time equivalent staff member;
17 (ii) An additional full-time equivalent staff member shall be employed
18 as a support staff person for each additional one thousand students
19 enrolled in a school.
20 3. The commissioner may, upon application by a school district, waive
21 the applicability of the provisions of subdivisions one and two of this
22 section for up to two years, if such application demonstrates the school
23 is within a designated shortage area for certified school library media
24 specialists, and such application demonstrates that such school has a
25 two-year plan to be in compliance with the provisions of this section;
26 however, no such waiver shall be granted for more than two consecutive
27 school years.
28 § 4. Subdivision 2 of section 711 of the education law, as amended by
29 chapter 571 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
30 2. School library materials, for the purposes of this article shall
31 mean digital materials, audio/visual materials and printed materials
32 that may or may not require magnification which meet all of the follow-
33 ing criteria: (1) materials which are catalogued and processed as part
34 of the school library or media center for use by elementary and/or
35 secondary school children and teachers; (2) materials which with reason-
36 able care and use may be expected to last more than one year; and (3)
37 materials which would not be eligible for aid pursuant to sections seven
38 hundred one and seven hundred fifty-one of this title. School library
39 materials meeting these criteria may include (i) hard cover, paperback
40 books and e-books, periodicals, that is, print and digital publications
41 which are subscription-based and appear at regular intervals of less
42 than one year on a continuing basis for an indefinite period, documents
43 other than books, pamphlets, musical scores, other printed, digital and
44 published materials, (ii) for school year nineteen hundred eighty-six--
45 eighty-seven and thereafter, audio/visual materials including films,
46 film strips, micro-film, sound recordings, processed slides, transparen-
47 cies, kinescopes, video tapes, maps, charts, globes, pictorial works,
48 including pictures and picture sets, reproductions, photographs, graphic
49 works, any audio/visual, online or electronic materials needed for media
50 literacy programs, and any other audio/visual materials of a similar
51 nature made.
52 § 5. For the purposes of sections five, six, seven and eight of this
53 act, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
54 1. "Digital citizenship" means a diverse set of skills related to
55 current technology and social media, including the norms of appropriate,
56 responsible, and healthy behavior.
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1 2. "Media literacy" means the ability to access, analyze, evaluate,
2 and use media and information and encompasses the foundational skills
3 that lead to digital citizenship.
4 § 6. The commissioner of education, in cooperation with experts in
5 media literacy, the board of regents of the university of the state of
6 New York, and educators, shall appoint a media literacy advisory commit-
7 tee ("committee") to conduct a study on teaching of media literacy in
8 schools.
9 § 7. The group shall create a survey and submit to each school admin-
10 istrator in the state to provide feedback from teachers and students to
11 the state board of education to identify media literacy best practices
12 of and the current media literacy resources available to each district
13 to best inform future instruction. The survey shall include a checklist
14 of items for school districts to consider when updating policies and
15 procedures. The survey shall also inquire of teacher-librarians, princi-
16 pals, and technology directors to understand how they are currently
17 integrating digital citizenship and media literacy education in their
18 curriculum.
19 § 8. The committee shall make a report of its findings, including any
20 recommendations for legislative action as it may deem necessary and
21 appropriate, best practices for instruction that provides guidance that
22 identifies fake print and video media and to apply critical thinking
23 skills when consuming and producing media in any form. These recommenda-
24 tions and best practices may include, but are not limited to:
25 (a) revisions to state education standards and the state instructional
26 technology plan;
27 (b) revisions to policies and procedures on media literacy, including
28 digital citizenship and internet safety;
29 (c) school district processes necessary to develop customized school
30 district policies and procedures on electronic resources and internet
31 safety that can be used within a school district technology plan;
32 (d) best practices, resources, and models for instruction in media
33 literacy;
34 (e) best practices, resources, and models for instruction of digital
35 citizenship, including media literacy, that are compliant with the
36 federal universal service e-rate program administered by the schools and
37 libraries division of the universal service administrative company and
38 federal mandates established in the federal children's internet
39 protection act; and
40 (f) strategies that will support school districts in local implementa-
41 tion of the best practices and recommendations developed by the commit-
42 tee, including strategies for delivering professional development to
43 educators and administrators.
44 § 9. The report required by section seven of this act shall be deliv-
45 ered to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the
46 speaker of the assembly no later than one year after the effective date
47 of this act.
48 § 10. The education law is amended by adding a new section 756 to read
49 as follows:
50 § 756. Annual review of media literacy policy and procedures. 1. For
51 purposes of this section, "media literacy" shall be considered a broad
52 term that encompasses consumption and production of media and digital
53 products and is defined as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, act
54 and create with all forms of communication, and encompasses the founda-
55 tional skills of digital citizenship and internet safety including the
A. 5821 5
1 norms of appropriate, responsible, healthy behavior, and cyberbullying
2 prevention.
3 2. Beginning in the two thousand twenty-five--two thousand twenty-six
4 school year, a media literacy advisory committee shall be created within
5 the department to review and amend the policy and procedures on media
6 literacy. The committee, in conjunction with national or statewide
7 organizations focused on media literacy, shall:
8 (a) involve a representation of teachers, teacher-librarians, school
9 media specialists, other school employees, school administrators,
10 pupils, and community representatives with experience or expertise in
11 media literacy issues;
12 (b) consider customizing the model policy and procedures on electronic
13 resources;
14 (c) consider existing school district resources; and
15 (d) consider best practices, resources, and models for instruction in
16 media literacy.
17 § 11. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
18 the date on which it shall have become a law.
