Bill Text: NY S04031 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Establishes a commission for the educational advancement of multilingual learners in New York.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-12-12 - SIGNED CHAP.635 [S04031 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S04031-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         4031--A

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    February 25, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens.  JACKSON,  BIAGGI, KENNEDY, MAY, MYRIE, SALAZAR --
          read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to
          the  Committee  on  Finance  --  committee  discharged,  bill amended,
          ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to establish a commission  for  the  educational  advancement  of
          multilingual  learners  in  New  York; and providing for the repeal of
          such provisions upon expiration thereof

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Commission  established. (a) A commission, to be known as
     2  the commission for the educational advancement of multilingual learners,
     3  hereafter referred to as the commission, is hereby created to study  and
     4  prepare  a  report on the best practices and legislative recommendations
     5  to close the achievement gap and high school  graduation  rates  between
     6  multilingual learners and their English proficient peers from prekinder-
     7  garten  through  twelfth  grade. The report will advise the legislature,
     8  governor, board of regents, and New York state  education  officials  on
     9  the  best  practices,  provide policy and legislative recommendations to
    10  close the achievement gap; and the feasibility  and  cost  to  implement
    11  such practices in schools.
    12    (b)  The  commission shall be composed of eleven members, appointed as
    13  follows: (i) two members shall be appointed by the  governor;  (ii)  two
    14  members  shall  be  appointed  by the speaker of the assembly; (iii) two
    15  members shall be appointed by the temporary  president  of  the  senate;
    16  (iv)  one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assem-
    17  bly; (v) one member shall be appointed by the  minority  leader  of  the
    18  senate;  (vi)  two  members  shall be appointed by the chancellor of the
    19  board of regents; and (vii) one member shall be the commissioner of  the
    20  New York state education department or appointed thereof who shall serve
    21  as  chairperson  of the commission.   Vacancies in the membership of the

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10122-04-9
        S. 4031--A                          2

     1  commission shall be filled in the manner provided for original  appoint-
     2  ments.
     3    (c)  The  commission  shall  be made up of at least: (i) one education
     4  professional who specializes in English to Speakers of  Other  Languages
     5  and Bilingual Programs; (ii) one teacher who has experience working with
     6  multilingual  students; (iii) one education professional who has experi-
     7  ence working with early childhood multilingual learners; (iv) one educa-
     8  tion professional who has experience  with  multilingual  newcomers  and
     9  high  school  graduation;  and  (v)  one  education professional who has
    10  expertise in education equity of New York state students.
    11    (d) The members of the commission shall receive  no  compensation  for
    12  their services, but shall be allowed their actual and necessary expenses
    13  incurred in the performance of their duties hereunder.
    14    §  2.  Appointments  to  commission.  The governor, the speaker of the
    15  assembly, the temporary president of the senate, the minority leader  of
    16  the  assembly,  the minority leader of the senate, the chancellor of the
    17  board of regents, and the commissioner of education shall  submit  their
    18  appointments no later than 120 days after this act becomes a law.
    19    §  3.  Commission staff and agency liaison. The commissioner of educa-
    20  tion shall designate such employees of the department  of  education  as
    21  are  reasonably necessary to provide support services to the commission.
    22  The commissioner of education shall appoint one or more  representatives
    23  of  the department of education to serve as liaison between such depart-
    24  ment and the commission.
    25    § 4. Accomplishment of purpose. The commission shall be authorized and
    26  empowered to undertake any studies, surveys  or  analyses  it  may  deem
    27  relevant.  The commission shall meet and hold at least five public hear-
    28  ings, pursuant to subdivision (a) of section one of  this  act,  one  in
    29  each of the following regions of the state: Long Island, the city of New
    30  York, the city of Buffalo, the city of Syracuse and the city of Yonkers.
    31    §  5.  Report  on  best practices and legislative recommendations. The
    32  commission shall make a report of its findings, including any  recommen-
    33  dations for legislative action as it may deem necessary and appropriate,
    34  to  the  governor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of
    35  the assembly, the chairperson of the senate committee on education,  the
    36  chairperson  of  the  senate  committee  on New York City education, the
    37  chairperson of  the  assembly  committee  on  education,  the  board  of
    38  regents,  and the commissioner of education no later than one year after
    39  the effective date of this act.
    40    § 6. This act shall take effect April 1, 2020 and shall expire and  be
    41  deemed  repealed  two  years after such date, provided, however, that if
    42  upon such date an appropriation to  the  education  department  for  the
    43  purposes  of  implementing  section  one of this act shall not have been
    44  made, this act shall take effect  on  the  forty-fifth  day  after  such
    45  appropriation  is made and shall expire and be deemed repealed two years
    46  after such date, provided further that the director of the budget  shall
    47  notify  the  legislative bill drafting commission upon the occurrence of
    48  such appropriation in order that the commission may maintain an accurate
    49  and timely effective data base of the official text of the laws  of  the
    50  state  of  New  York  in  furtherance  of effectuating the provisions of
    51  section 44 of the legislative law and section 70-b of the  public  offi-
    52  cers law.