Enacts the Educational Rights Transparency for New York Families Act, to establish standards for resource based educational rights of students within the state and implement a system of self-assessment and reporting by schools and school districts.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2369
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 20, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. BAILEY, BRISPORT, BROUK, COMRIE, JACKSON, LIU, PARK-
ER, SEPULVEDA -- 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 enacting the Educa-
tional Rights Transparency for New York Families 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 "Educational Rights Transparency for New York Families Act".
3 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new article 67 to read
4 as follows:
5 ARTICLE 67
6 EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS TRANSPARENCY FOR NEW YORK FAMILIES ACT
7 Section 3350. Short title.
8 3351. Standards for resource related educational rights.
9 3352. Reporting by school employees and school boards.
10 3353. Educational rights publication for parents and students.
11 § 3350. Short title. This article shall be known and may be cited as
12 the "Educational Rights Transparency for New York Families Act".
13 § 3351. Standards for resource related educational rights. The commis-
14 sioner shall promulgate rules and regulations regarding a student's
15 resource related educational rights, including but not limited to target
16 goals and definitions for:
17 (a) sufficient numbers of qualified teachers, principals, and other
18 personnel;
19 (b) suitable and up-to-date curricula;
20 (c) support for students who are not meeting, or at risk of not meet-
21 ing, any state learning standards in a core academic subject, including
22 English language arts, math, science and social studies;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05555-01-3
S. 2369 2
1 (d) adequate resources for students with disabilities and English-lan-
2 guage learners;
3 (e) appropriate class sizes;
4 (f) sufficient and up-to-date books, supplies, libraries, educational
5 technology, and laboratories;
6 (g) a safe and orderly environment; and
7 (h) adequate and accessible school buildings.
8 § 3352. Reporting by school employees and school boards. 1. Beginning
9 in the two thousand twenty-four--two thousand twenty-five school year,
10 the board of education or trustees, as defined in section two of this
11 chapter, of every school district within the state, however created and
12 the chancellor of the city school district of the city of New York shall
13 establish a program engaging teachers, support staff, parents and, at
14 the high school level, student leaders in an annual school level self-
15 assessment of each school's ability to follow and meet the rules and
16 regulations promulgated pursuant to section thirty-three hundred fifty-
17 one of this article. The department shall develop and issue, policies
18 and procedures for such annual assessment.
19 2. (a) The board of education or trustees of each school district, or
20 the chancellor of the city school district of the city of New York, as
21 applicable, shall examine any data and make inspections to validate the
22 findings of the annual school level assessments made pursuant to subdi-
23 vision one of this section. Such examination shall include an audit of
24 the adequacy of a district's own resources and capacity to meet the
25 needs of each school located in such district in regard to complying
26 with the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to section thirty-
27 three hundred fifty-one of this article.
28 (b) The findings of such examination shall be compiled into a report
29 which shall be filed with the department and posted conspicuously on the
30 website for the department and each school district. In the event an
31 examination finds resource gaps at the school or district level, such
32 report shall additionally include proposed remedies both that can be
33 carried out with the district's available resources and an explanation
34 of resource gaps that may be remedied through additional state aid.
35 3. (a) A school employee shall, no more than sixty days after learning
36 of a school's noncompliance with the rules and regulations promulgated
37 pursuant to section thirty-three hundred fifty-one of this article,
38 either through the annual assessment process pursuant to subdivision one
39 of this section or at any other time, document such noncompliance in
40 writing and file a report with the board of education or trustees of
41 such school district or the chancellor of the city school district of
42 the city of New York, as applicable.
43 (b) Within thirty days of receiving a report of noncompliance pursuant
44 to paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the board of education or trustees
45 of such school district or the chancellor of the city school district of
46 the city of New York, as applicable, shall ensure that:
47 (i) written notification is issued to the parent or guardian of any
48 student affected by such noncompliance. Such written notification shall
49 be provided in English and translated as necessary into the primary
50 language of such parent or guardian; and
51 (ii) the board of education or trustees of such school district or the
52 chancellor of the city school district of the city of New York, as
53 applicable, submits the findings of noncompliance to the department's
54 office of accountability.
S. 2369 3
1 4. The department shall review, store and organize all noncompliance
2 reports submitted pursuant to subdivisions two and three of this section
3 in a publicly accessible database.
4 5. The department's office of accountability shall develop and issue
5 recommendations to a board of education or trustees of a school district
6 or the chancellor of the city school district of the city of New York,
7 as applicable, of a noncompliant school to bring such school into
8 compliance with the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to
9 section thirty-three hundred fifty-one of this article.
10 § 3353. Educational rights publication for parents and students. 1.
11 The department shall promulgate a parent and student friendly publica-
12 tion detailing the resource related educational rights of students with-
13 in the state. Such publication shall include, but is not limited to,
14 information regarding a student's right to:
15 (a) sufficient numbers of qualified teachers, principals, and other
16 personnel;
17 (b) suitable and up-to-date curricula;
18 (c) support for students who are not meeting, or at risk of not meet-
19 ing, any state learning standards in a core academic subject, including
20 English language arts, math, science and social studies;
21 (d) adequate resources for students with disabilities and English-lan-
22 guage learners;
23 (e) appropriate class sizes;
24 (f) sufficient and up-to-date books, supplies, libraries, educational
25 technology, and laboratories;
26 (g) a safe and orderly environment; and
27 (h) adequate and accessible school buildings.
28 Such publication shall additionally include a phone number and an
29 email address to the appropriate department office to accommodate ques-
30 tions or complaints from parents or guardians of students regarding
31 resource related educational rights.
32 2. The department shall conspicuously post and maintain the publica-
33 tion required pursuant to subdivision one of this section on the website
34 of the department and require that every school district within the
35 state do the same on their respective sites. The department shall also
36 require every school district within the state to provide a parent or
37 guardian of a student in such district with a hard copy of such publica-
38 tion upon the initial release of the publication, at the start of each
39 academic year, to a parent or guardian of a student when such student is
40 enrolled in a new school and to a parent or guardian upon the request of
41 such parent or guardian. Such publication shall be made available in
42 English and the nine most common languages other than English spoken by
43 parents or guardians of New York state school children as determined by
44 the department.
45 § 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. Effective immediately,
46 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
47 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
48 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
