Bill Text: NY S02673 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: 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.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION [S02673 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S02673-Introduced.html
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. LBD06179-01-3S. 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.
