Establishes the New York Teach Program conditional tuition waiver; requires participants to teach at hard to staff school districts for four years after graduation in order to have tuition waived in full for accelerated bachelor's and master's degree programs in education.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2673
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 24, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. FERNANDEZ, JACKSON, LIU -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher
Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing the "New
York Teach Program" conditional tuition waiver
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 be cited as the
2 "New York Teach Program".
3 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 679-k to
4 read as follows:
5 § 679-k. New York teach program. 1. Purpose. The president shall
6 establish a conditional tuition waiver for accelerated five-year bach-
7 elor's and master's program in education for eligible public universi-
8 ties for the purpose of increasing the number of teachers serving under-
9 served districts in the state.
10 2. Eligibility. To be eligible for a conditional tuition waiver pursu-
11 ant to this section, applicants shall (a) be accepted in an accelerated
12 five-year bachelor's and master's degree program at a public university
13 in the state; (b) sign a contract to agree to teach at their assigned
14 hard to staff city school district for at least four years after gradu-
15 ation; (c) complete the accelerated five-year bachelor's and master's
16 degree program within five years of enrollment; (d) be a New York state
17 resident; and (e) maintain a minimum 3.0 grade point average for each
18 academic year enrolled in the program.
19 3. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the term (a) "eligi-
20 ble public universities" shall mean a public university in New York
21 state with both a bachelor's and master's degree in education; (b) "hard
22 to staff city school districts" shall mean school districts in a city
23 that have a shortage of teachers, as designated by the department; and
24 (c) "accelerated five-year bachelor's and master's program" shall mean
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06179-01-3
S. 2673 2
1 an academic course of study which allows a student to complete their
2 bachelor's and master's degrees in education in five academic years.
3 4. Priority. Priority for this conditional tuition waiver shall be
4 given to applicants who are economically disadvantaged as determined by
5 the corporation.
6 5. Waiver amount determination. The corporation shall grant five thou-
7 sand conditional waivers pursuant to this subdivision in each of the
8 first ten academic years after the effective date of this subdivision.
9 Upon completion of the ten academic years after the effective date of
10 this subdivision, the corporation shall study the effectiveness of this
11 tuition waiver program. Such study shall include the success rate of
12 participants, including test scores for the students taught by program
13 participants and school administrator reviews of program participants.
14 Upon completion of the study, the corporation shall determine the number
15 of conditional waivers that shall be granted in the academic years ther-
16 eafter.
17 6. Assignment of graduates. Prior to graduation, the corporation shall
18 assign students that have been granted a conditional tuition waiver to a
19 hard to staff city school district. The assignment shall be made pursu-
20 ant to the need for teachers at such school districts. The student shall
21 be eligible to appeal the assigned district and request a specific
22 placement in the case of extenuating circumstances including, but not
23 limited to, an illness in the student's family.
24 7. Failure to comply. The conditional tuition waiver shall be voided
25 by the corporation, and such person shall owe the tuition amount for the
26 five-year accelerated program to the corporation in the form of an
27 educational loan in the event a person receiving this conditional
28 tuition waiver fails to comply with the requirements of (a) completing
29 the degree program in five academic years; or (b) teaching in their
30 assigned school district for four years.
31 8. Transfer. A student receiving a conditional tuition waiver pursuant
32 to this section shall be eligible to transfer between eligible public
33 universities without being disqualified from the conditional tuition
34 waiver program. An eligible public university shall allow a student with
35 a conditional tuition waiver pursuant to this section to transfer any
36 credits earned at a different eligible public university.
37 9. Other financial aid. A student receiving a conditional tuition
38 waiver pursuant to this section shall not be disallowed from receiving
39 any other awards, aid, or scholarships. The waiver shall apply to the
40 remaining tuition balance after any such awards, aid, or scholarships
41 are applied to the tuition balance.
42 10. Rules and regulations. The corporation is authorized to promulgate
43 rules and regulations and may promulgate emergency regulations necessary
44 for the implementation of the provisions of this section. In the event
45 that there are more applicants who have the same priority, as provided
46 in subdivision four of this section, than there are remaining condi-
47 tional tuition waivers, the corporation shall provide in regulation the
48 method of distributing the remaining number of such conditional tuition
49 waivers, which may include a lottery or other form of random selection.
50 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
