STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6234--B
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 6, 2016
___________
Introduced by Sens. HAMILTON, COMRIE, PERSAUD -- 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 -- committee discharged,
bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to mandatory continuing
education for teachers relating to mental health issues
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 3006-a of the
2 education law, as added by section 2 of subpart C of part EE of chapter
3 56 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
4 a. During each five-year registration period beginning on or after
5 July first, two thousand sixteen, an applicant for registration shall
6 successfully complete a minimum of one hundred hours of continuing
7 teacher and leader education, as defined by the commissioner. Such
8 continuing teacher and leader education shall include at least twice
9 during the five-year registration period, but not be limited to, contin-
10 uing education courses, programs, and activities related to mental
11 health. Such training shall include best practices for the safe de-esca-
12 lation of crisis situations, and identifying signs and symptoms, includ-
13 ing the early stages, of mental illnesses and situations that may neces-
14 sitate timely notification to appropriate school officials. The
15 department shall issue rigorous standards for courses, programs, and
16 activities[,] that shall qualify as continuing teacher and leader educa-
17 tion pursuant to this section. For purposes of this section, a peer
18 review teacher, or a principal acting as an independent trained evalu-
19 ator, conducting a classroom observation as part of the teacher evalu-
20 ation system pursuant to section three thousand twelve-d of this article
21 may credit such time towards his or her continuing teacher and leader
22 effectiveness requirements.
23 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13211-05-6
