STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4811--A
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 20, 2015
___________
Introduced by Sens. MARCHIONE, GRIFFO, SERINO -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Educa-
tion -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT in relation to the adoption of a statewide teacher and principal
evaluation system
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "your
2 voice, our schools act".
3 § 2. Notwithstanding any provisions of section 3012-c of the education
4 law to the contrary, the commissioner of education is hereby authorized
5 and directed, subject to the provisions of section 207 of the education
6 law, to adopt regulations of the commissioner and guidelines no later
7 than December 31, 2016, to implement a statewide annual teacher and
8 principal evaluation system in New York state pursuant to section 3012-d
9 of the education law after consulting with experts and practitioners in
10 the fields of education, economics and psychometrics and taking into
11 consideration the parameters set forth in the letter from the chancellor
12 of the board of regents and acting commissioner dated December 31, 2014,
13 to the New York state director of state operations.
14 § 3. The commissioner of education shall establish a process to
15 accept public comments and recommendations regarding the adoption of
16 regulations pursuant to section 3012-d of the education law and consult
17 in writing with the secretary of the United States department of educa-
18 tion on weights, measures and ranking of evaluation categories and
19 subcomponents and shall release the response from the secretary upon
20 receipt thereof but in any event prior to publication of the regulations
21 hereunder.
22 § 4. The period to accept public comments and recommendations shall
23 last until December 31, 2015 and the commissioner of education shall
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10497-03-5
S. 4811--A 2
1 ensure that a link for such public comments and recommendations is
2 available on the state education department website. The commissioner
3 of education shall conduct at least one public forum in each Regents
4 district during the public comment period.
5 § 5. The commissioner of education shall report his or her findings of
6 the public comments and recommendations to the governor and the legisla-
7 ture no later than March 31, 2016. Such report shall include the number
8 of comments received and an executive summary that includes a broad
9 cross section of comments, and citizen input, for how teacher evalu-
10 ations should be implemented.
11 § 6. All public schools shall implement the commissioner of
12 education's approved teacher and principal evaluation system by January
13 1, 2019. Any school that fails to implement such system by that date
14 shall not be eligible to receive any funds appropriated for the
15 2019-2020 school year.
16 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.
