Requires the commissioner to incorporate measures of racial and socioeconomic integration into state accountability models; requires data compiled to be included in the school report card created by the department.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1922
SPONSOR: Gonzalez-Rojas TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to incorporating measures
of racial and socioeconomic integration into state accountability models
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this legislation is to include measures of racial and
socioeconomic integration and equality in annual school report cards.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 clarifies the legislative intent of the bill, which is include
measures of racial and socioeconomic integration and equality of access
in annual report cards in order to track progress towards greater diver-
sity and access to racially and socioeconomically disadvantaged students
Section 2 amends section 305 subdivision 57 of the education law to
establish that the state commissioner of education shall include inte-
gration into state accountability models. It sets forth the calculation
of a school proportionality score and the formulate to determine these
calculations and how the score will be reported. It also establishes
measures of equality of access and how the department will calculate and
report the findings of those measures.
Section 3 is the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
In a longitudinal study by the American Civil Liberties Unions' Civil
Rights Project, they found that in 2021 "NYS retains its place as the
most segregated state for black students, and second most segregated for
Latino students (after California) ". This followed a 2014 report that
had very similar findings, meaning that racial and socioeconomic segre-
gation in schools is still impacting diversity and access to resources
in educational institutions. In New York City, while white students no
longer make the state's majority group of students, the number of
intensely segregated schools (greater than 90% students of color) is
increasing, causing further segregation.
This is further compounded when socioeconomic status is also factored
in. The ACLU found that "the average Black, Latino, and American Indian
student attends schools with 78% low-income students, a sharp increase
from 68% in 2010". This demonstrates that some students of color are
also being further segregated into schools with students that experience
more poverty. While White and Asian students also attend schools with
higher poverty than they previously had as well, the increase is more
modest.
This legislation seeks to address issues of segregation in New York
schools by requiring that measures of racial and socioeconomic inte-
gration and equality of access be included in annual school report
cards. The result will be that parents and guardians can more objective-
ly learn about the degree of racial and socioeconomic segregation in
each county and how proportional that is to the segregation in schools.
It will also assess how much equality exists related to access to fair
staffing, curriculum, and programming. This data will also provide
information as to how much access students have to resources that
support higher educational achievement.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021: Bill reported to Education committee
2022: Bill reported to Education committee
STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1922
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 23, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GONZALEZ-ROJAS, BURGOS, SIMON, CLARK, KELLES --
read once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to incorporating measures
of racial and socioeconomic integration into state accountability
models
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature finds and declares all
2 of the following:
3 (a) The U.S. Supreme Court has declared that school diversity and the
4 reduction of racial isolation are compelling government interests.
5 (b) Racial and socioeconomic isolation in schools affects students'
6 ability to access experienced and qualified teachers, advanced course-
7 work, high-quality instructional materials, and adequate facilities on
8 an equitable basis.
9 (c) Decades of research have found that racial and socioeconomic inte-
10 gration of schools benefits all students.
11 (d) The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. §
12 6301, et seq., as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act, P.L. 114-95
13 requires state accountability systems to include an indicator of school
14 quality or student success which must meaningfully differentiate among
15 schools and be valid, reliable, and comparable statewide.
16 The legislature thereby establishes this act to include measures of
17 racial and socioeconomic integration and equality of access in annual
18 school report cards.
19 § 2. Section 305 of the education law is amended by adding a new
20 subdivision 57 to read as follows:
21 57. The commissioner shall establish measures incorporating inte-
22 gration into state accountability models. Such measures shall include:
23 a. Calculation of a school proportionality score. For each school, the
24 department shall calculate a proportionality score that compares the
25 demographic profiles of each school to the demographic profile of the
26 county in which the school is located in order to measure the degree of
27 racial and economic segregation in each county and the degree of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04877-01-3
A. 1922 2
1 progress being made over time toward greater diversity. The department
2 shall calculate the proportionality score for each school as follows:
3 (i) Multiply the proportion of the first subgroup found in the county
4 times the total population of the school;
5 (ii) Subtract from the product calculated pursuant to subparagraph (i)
6 of this paragraph the population of the first subgroup in the school;
7 (iii) Convert the number calculated in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of
8 this paragraph to an absolute value;
9 (iv) Repeat the steps in subparagraphs (i) through (iii) of this para-
10 graph for every identified subgroup and sum the values;
11 (v) Divide by an amount equal to the total number of students in the
12 school multiplied by two.
13 b. Reporting of the school proportionality score. A school shall
14 receive a designation of "highly proportional" if their proportionality
15 score is less than ten percent. The school shall receive a designation
16 of "proportional" if their proportionality score is between ten percent
17 and less than twenty-five percent. The school shall receive a desig-
18 nation of "somewhat disproportional" if their proportionality score is
19 between twenty-five percent and less than fifty percent. The school
20 shall receive a designation of "highly disproportional" if their propor-
21 tionality score is fifty percent or above.
22 c. Measures of equality of access for certain subgroups of students
23 served by a school. In addition to the overall school performance scores
24 and grades awarded under this subdivision, for each school that serves
25 any historically underserved student subgroup comprising at least five
26 percent of the school's student population, the department shall calcu-
27 late measures of equality of access which demonstrate the extent to
28 which each school's population of historically underserved student
29 subgroups has access to school resources associated with high educa-
30 tional achievement.
31 For each racial or ethnic subgroup within a school and for econom-
32 ically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged students, the
33 department shall calculate each subgroup's participation in or exposure
34 to:
35 (i) Gifted and talented programs or advanced courses;
36 (ii) Teachers with at least three years of experience; and
37 (iii) Teachers with certification from the national board for profes-
38 sional teaching standards.
39 For each school, each racial or ethnic subgroup within a county, and
40 economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged students
41 in the county, the department shall calculate the school or subgroup's
42 average:
43 (A) Number of field trips;
44 (B) Hours of instruction in arts or music;
45 (C) School-level ratio of students to psychologists;
46 (D) School-level ratio of students to guidance counselors;
47 (E) School-level ratio of students to nurses; and
48 (F) School-level ratio of students to media specialists.
49 d. Reporting. The data calculated in paragraphs b and c of this subdi-
50 vision shall be reported separately on the annual school report card in
51 a way that allows for easy comparison of school-level and county-level
52 data. The school report card shall also indicate whether each school is
53 making progress towards reducing school segregation and providing
54 students with equality of access to school resources associated with
55 high educational achievement.
56 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
