Rpld Title II Arts 33, 35, 37, 39, 51, 52 & 53, Ed L
 
Directs the commissioner of education for the state of New York to revamp the structure of school districts statewide creating one school district per county; and to repeal various provisions of the education law relating thereto
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5226
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 14, 2013
___________
Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
AN ACT directing the commissioner of education for the state of New York
to revamp the structure of school districts statewide creating one
school district per county; and to repeal various provisions of the
education law relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings and declaration. The legislature
2 hereby finds and declares that New York state spends more money per
3 student than any other state in the nation, but ranks thirty-ninth in
4 high school graduation rates. Only seventy-three percent of New York's
5 students graduate from high school and only thirty-seven percent are
6 college ready. The legislature finds that New York students are not
7 adequately prepared to compete in the global economy and that changes
8 must be made to the education system in order to reverse these statis-
9 tics and prepare students to compete in the global economy. The legisla-
10 ture also finds and declares that New York has struggled for several
11 decades with the ongoing process of reorganizing our school district
12 system in a way that provides a solution to the negative effects of
13 declining school enrollment, broadens the scope of program offerings,
14 facilitates optimum class scheduling, increases professional resources,
15 and alleviates heavy tax burdens. The legislature therefore directs the
16 commissioner of education to reorganize the school districts in a manner
17 that adequately addresses the shortcomings of the current education
18 system and prepares each and every student to excel in today's global
19 economy.
20 § 2. The commissioner of the New York state department of education
21 shall establish and implement a new school district system statewide
22 consisting of one school district per county in each of the state's
23 sixty-two counties. The resulting sixty-two school districts shall
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10828-02-3
S. 5226 2
1 service only the needs of students residing in such county. Provided,
2 however, that any school district located in a city with a population of
3 one million or more shall be exempt from the provisions of this act.
4 § 3. Within one year of the effective date of this act the commission-
5 er of the New York state department of education shall submit a report
6 proposing implementing legislation to effect and fund the consolidation
7 of school districts as proposed in this act. Such report shall be
8 provided to the governor, the speaker of the assembly, the temporary
9 president of the senate, the assembly minority leader, the senate minor-
10 ity leader and the chairpersons and ranking members of the senate and
11 assembly committees on education.
12 § 4. Article 33 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
13 § 5. Article 35 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
14 § 6. Article 37 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
15 § 7. Article 39 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
16 § 8. Article 51 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
17 § 9. Article 52 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
18 § 10. Article 53 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
19 § 11. This act shall take effect on the three hundred sixty-fifth day
20 after it shall have become a law.