A00364 Summary:

BILL NOA00364A
 
SAME ASSAME AS S03408
 
SPONSORCruz
 
COSPNSRCunningham, Aubry, Sayegh, Raga, Gunther, Davila, Simon, Zinerman, Levenberg, Gonzalez-Rojas, Ramos
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add §3615, Ed L
 
Establishes the bilingual teachers of tomorrow teacher recruitment and retention program to attract and retain bilingual, certified teachers in schools with a bilingual teacher shortage; provides for grants and procedures for applying for such grants and eligibility requirements for fund distribution.
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A00364 Actions:

BILL NOA00364A
 
01/06/2023referred to education
01/03/2024referred to education
01/29/2024amend and recommit to education
01/29/2024print number 364a
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A00364 Committee Votes:

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A00364 Floor Votes:

There are no votes for this bill in this legislative session.
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A00364 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         364--A
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                     January 6, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M. of A. CRUZ, CUNNINGHAM, AUBRY, SAYEGH, RAGA, GUNTHER,
          DAVILA, SIMON, ZINERMAN, LEVENBERG, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, RAMOS -- read once
          and referred to the Committee  on  Education  --  recommitted  to  the
          Committee  on  Education in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 --
          committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as  amended  and
          recommitted to said committee
 
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  education  law, in relation to establishing the
          bilingual 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  3615
     2  to read as follows:
     3    §  3615.  Bilingual  teachers  of  tomorrow  teacher  recruitment  and
     4  retention program. 1. Definitions. a. The term "school with a  bilingual
     5  teacher shortage" means a public school in which there was a shortage of
     6  bilingual, certified teachers in the previous school year and there is a
     7  projected  shortage  in  the  current  school  year as determined by the
     8  commissioner.
     9    b. The term "bilingual, certified teacher" means a teacher who holds a
    10  permanent or professional state teaching certificate appropriate to  the
    11  teaching position, including the subject area if applicable, in which he
    12  or she is to be employed and who is fully qualified to teach in a bilin-
    13  gual education program.
    14    c.  The  term  "school  district"  shall  mean  a  common, union free,
    15  central, central high school, or city school district.
    16    d. The term "board of education" shall mean the governing board of any
    17  public school or public school district defined in paragraph c  of  this
    18  subdivision.
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02342-05-3

        A. 364--A                           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 bilingual, certified  teacher  recruitment  and  retention
     6  activities  necessary  to  increase  the  number of bilingual, certified
     7  teachers in schools with a bilingual teacher shortage.
     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 bilingual, certified
    11  teachers in the school district, the fiscal capacity  of  the  district,
    12  and  the number of new bilingual, 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.  Bilingual  teachers  of  tomorrow  teacher  recruitment  incentive
    40  program.  Bilingual teachers of tomorrow teacher  recruitment  incentive
    41  awards  may  be available to teachers pursuant to the provisions of this
    42  subdivision to attract teachers to employment in schools with  a  bilin-
    43  gual teacher shortage.
    44    a.  Eligibility. To be eligible for an award pursuant to this subdivi-
    45  sion, an applicant shall:
    46    (1) be a bilingual, certified teacher;
    47    (2) agree to a service obligation of one year of service in  a  school
    48  with  a  bilingual teacher shortage as a condition of receiving an award
    49  pursuant to this subdivision; and
    50    (3) be employed for the first time as a bilingual,  certified  teacher
    51  in the 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.

        A. 364--A                           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  bilingual,  certified  teacher  in  schools  with a bilingual
    14  teacher shortage for each year of  a  renewed  award  and  has  provided
    15  satisfactory  service  in  any prior year in which an initial or renewed
    16  award was granted to the recipient. No awards shall  be  made  for  less
    17  than  one  school year of service and the sum of any initial and renewed
    18  awards shall not exceed forty thousand 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  bilingual  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 bilingual, certified teachers in schools with a
    47  bilingual teacher shortage in the state.
    48    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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