Directs the commissioner of education to issue guidance to school districts for developing programs to attract underrepresented candidates into the teaching profession and to identify funding available to school districts for such purposes.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A68A
SPONSOR: Sayegh TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to developing grow your
own initiatives at school districts and boards of cooperative educa-
tional services
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill requires guidance on "grow your own initiatives" to encourage
school districts and BOCES to develop partnerships to attract underrep-
resented candidates into the teaching profession.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds the title.
Section 2 would require the Commissioner of Education, in consultation
with institutions of higher education, to issue guidance for school
districts and BOCES to use to develop grow your own initiatives aimed at
attracting underrepresented candidates into the teaching profession.
Such guidance shall include, but not be limited to, ways to recruit
underrepresented candidates; initiatives aimed at creating an early
recruitment pipeline beginning in secondary school; how to establish
partnerships between school districts, community-based organizations,
and higher education institutions to encourage and support candidates to
enter and remain in the teaching profession; and how to identify exist-
ing funding sources available to school districts to attract and retain
underrepresented candidates into the teaching profession.
Section 3 sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Recent reports have highlighted the lack of diversity in New York's
teaching workforce. According to a 2022 report from the Education Trust-
New York, more than one in five New York students attends a school with-
out any teachers of color. Roughly one in ten Black and Latinx students
attend schools without teachers of the same race. The proportion of
Asian and American Indian students attending a school without a same-
race teacher is even higher at 19% and 76% respectively. Roughly one in
three White students attends a school without any teachers of color.
Despite bodies of research that show access to diverse teachers is
important for all students and efforts to improve diversity across the
state, this new analysis shows that between the 2018-19 and 2021-22
schools years, New York did not move the needle on cultivating a more
diverse teacher workforce. The critical role that strong teachers,
school leaders, and other professionals play in student success is
central to closing gaps for students at all levels. Powerful national
research reinforces the importance of highly skilled, well-trained, and
diverse teachers.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: A.4689-A (Sayegh)- referred to Education
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
Undetermined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.
