N.Y. Education Law § 309-a: Twenty-first century schools program

§ 309-a. Twenty-first century schools program. 1. Twenty-first century

schools plans. The commissioner is authorized to designate as

"twenty-first century schools," schools which are implementing approved

plans to achieve substantial improvement in student achievement.

Applications for designation as a twenty-first century school may be

submitted on behalf of an individual school, a subset of schools within

a school district or all schools within a school district. Each

application for designation as a twenty-first century school shall be

made in a form prescribed by the commissioner and shall set forth a

five-year plan to enable all students to achieve levels of educational

achievement that are competitive with high international standards

through implementation of innovative instructional strategies and

restructuring of school management and programs. Such application shall

be submitted by April first next preceding the school year in which

operation as a twenty-first century school would commence. The

twenty-first century school plan shall be developed through consultation

with teachers, administrators, parents and other interested parties and

shall be approved by the board of education at a public meeting. Such

consultation shall be conducted in accordance with plans for

school-based planning and shared decision making adopted in accordance

with regulations of the commissioner. A school designated as a

twenty-first century school may revise its plan, subject to approval by

the commissioner and subject to all requirements governing initial

development and approval of a plan. A twenty-first century school plan

shall contain such information as the commissioner may require,

including but not limited to:

a. identification of the school or schools included within the plan;

b. high, internationally competitive academic content and student

achievement standards and mechanisms for assessing student achievement

that are fair, reliable and valid, that have been selected or developed

in conjunction with teachers, principals, parents and representatives of

employers, organized labor, higher education institutions and community

organizations and are consistent with standards and assessment practices

developed by the department, by national organizations of subject-matter

experts or by others;

c. specific actions to be undertaken to assure that all students,

regardless of economic background, race, gender, ethnicity, disability

or limited English proficiency, will have a fair opportunity to achieve

the knowledge and skills described in the student achievement standards

pursuant to paragraph b of this subdivision;

d. specific improvements in student achievement that the plan is

expected to produce including, but not limited to, improvements in

student achievement as reflected in grades, test scores, portfolio

assessments and student demonstrations of skills or competencies and

improvements in attendance and completion rates;

e. certifications by the superintendent of schools and the principal

of each school included in the plan that the school will comply with all

requirements of this chapter, rules of the board or regulations of the

commissioner listed by the commissioner pursuant to subdivision three of

this section;

f. a description of the staff development, training and support for

teachers and other personnel that will be necessary to implement the

plan;

g. any changes in school governance or management, work rules or

assignment restrictions, pursuant to collective negotiations where

applicable, needed in order to effectively focus and assist schools in

preparing students to meet the achievement standards described in

paragraph b of this subdivision;

h. any actions to be undertaken to assist families of students in

addressing pressing needs that affect student achievement, including,

but not limited to, forming partnerships with public and private

agencies to increase the access of students and families to quality

coordinated services;

i. any actions to be undertaken to facilitate the transition from

school to work or to postsecondary education for all students including,

for example, integration of workplace readiness skills and career

information into curricula, provision of school-structured work

experiences, cooperation with local employers and articulation of school

and college programs; and

j. a plan for evaluation of the effectiveness of the program.

2. Criteria for approval. The commissioner may designate a total of up

to two hundred fifty twenty-first century schools by the nineteen

hundred ninety-nine--two thousand school year. The commissioner shall

promulgate criteria for the designation of twenty-first century schools

which shall include, but not be limited to:

a. certifications by the commissioner that: (i) the student

achievement standards described pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision

one of this section represent high, internationally competitive

standards for student knowledge and skills, (ii) that the mechanisms for

assessing student achievement pursuant to such paragraph b are fair,

reliable and valid; and (iii) the plan is designed to provide all

students with educational services of a quality at least as high as

those offered under existing practices, without regard to economic

background, race, gender, ethnicity, disability or limited English

proficiency;

b. the potential of the school plan for use as a model to be

replicated by other similarly situated schools and the probability of

success in substantially improving levels of achievement for all

students, without regard to economic background, race, gender,

ethnicity, disability or limited English proficiency;

c. evidence and strength of support for the proposal among teachers,

parents and staff;

d. use of nationally recognized school restructuring and improvement

models and reliance upon research-based strategies for improving student

achievement; and

e. changes in local policies to provide the school or schools with

additional enhanced flexibility.

The commissioner shall designate twenty-first century schools after

consultation with the twenty-first century schools committee established

pursuant to subdivision six of this section. The commissioner shall, to

the extent practicable, provide for designation of schools located in a

mixture of urban, rural and suburban settings. The commissioner shall

take specific actions to encourage applications from schools located in

economically and socially distressed communities.

3. Exemption from regulation. A school designated as a twenty-first

century school shall:

a. be exempt from complying with rules of the board and regulations of

the commissioner to the extent necessary to implement an approved

twenty-first century school plan and except as provided in paragraphs b

and c of this subdivision;

b. be authorized, as part of a twenty-first century school plan or

revision thereto, to request approval by the commissioner to be exempted

from specific requirements of this chapter except as provided in

paragraph c of this subdivision and provided that the school shall

continue to meet the underlying purposes of the statute to the

satisfaction of the commissioner and that the exemption shall be granted

only to the extent necessary to implement an approved twenty-first

century school plan in the affected school or schools and provided

further, that within thirty days of granting an exemption pursuant to

this paragraph, the commissioner shall provide written notice of such

action to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the

speaker of the assembly; and

c. not be exempt from complying with requirements of this chapter,

rules of the board or regulations of the commissioner that (i) protect

the health, safety and civil rights of students and staff, (ii)

implement the requirements of federal law or regulation, (iii) provide

for teacher, staff and parent participation and involvement, maintenance

of effort or equitable participation of students and staff in nonpublic

schools, (iv) require the use of certified teachers, or (v) pertain to

attendance of pupils; further, nothing herein shall be construed to

exempt a twenty-first century school or its governing district from

complying with the provisions of titles two and four of this chapter,

with the requirement to offer students the opportunity to meet all the

requirements for and receive a regents high school diploma or with

requirements to reporting data necessary for the computation of state

aid.

On or by October first, nineteen hundred ninety-four, the commissioner

shall promulgate and provide to the governor, the temporary president of

the senate and the speaker of the assembly a preliminary list of all

requirements from which twenty-first century schools shall be required

to request specific exemption as provided in paragraph b of this

subdivision and with which twenty-first century schools shall be

required to comply as provided in paragraph c of this subdivision. The

commissioner shall promulgate a final list of all such requirements on

November first, nineteen hundred ninety-four. The commissioner shall

revise such list as needed and, in each case, shall provide a

preliminary revised list to the governor, the temporary president of the

senate and the speaker of the assembly at least thirty days prior to

promulgating a final revised list.

4. School evaluations and reports. Each school designated as a

twenty-first century school shall annually review its effectiveness in

improving student performance and enabling all students to achieve to

high internationally competitive standards and shall report the results

of this review to the commissioner by September first next succeeding

each year of operation as a twenty-first century school. Prior to the

start of a school's third year of operation as a twenty-first century

school, the school and the commissioner shall jointly review the

school's performance to identify areas in need of improvement and to

develop revisions to the school's twenty-first century school plan to

remedy the identified shortcomings. If, as a result of such review, the

commissioner determines that the school is unlikely to produce

improvement in student achievement, he or she shall commence action to

revoke the school's designation as a twenty-first century school in

accordance with the provisions of subdivision five of this section. The

trustees or board of education of each district operating a twenty-first

century school shall arrange for an independent evaluation of such

school's effectiveness in substantially improving student achievement.

Such independent evaluation shall be completed and transmitted to the

commissioner within ninety days after completion of the fourth year of

the school's operation as a twenty-first century school. Such

independent evaluation shall be conducted by an agency selected by the

trustees or board of education of the district and approved by the

commissioner.

5. Duties of the commissioner and department. The commissioner shall

promulgate guidelines to implement the provisions of this section, shall

annually review the performance of all schools designated as

twenty-first century schools, shall provide technical assistance and

support, as appropriate, to all such schools, and shall submit to the

regents, the legislature and the governor, no later than February first,

an annual report describing the effectiveness of the twenty-first

century schools program, recommending changes in the program and

recommending changes in laws and regulations affecting all schools based

upon the experiences of twenty-first century schools. The first such

report shall be submitted no later than June first, nineteen hundred

ninety-five and shall detail the steps undertaken to implement the

provisions of this section. Each such annual report shall list and

summarize all exemptions requested, granted and denied pursuant to

paragraph b of subdivision three of this section. The commissioner may,

acting either upon complaint or upon his or her own initiative, revoke a

school's designation as a twenty-first century school for good cause

shown and after affording the school an opportunity to present arguments

against revocation.

6. Twenty-first century schools committee. There is hereby established

the twenty-first century schools committee. The committee shall advise

and assist the commissioner in developing guidelines to implement the

provisions of this section, selecting schools for designation as

twenty-first century schools, reviewing the performance of such schools,

evaluating the overall effectiveness of the twenty-first century schools

program and recommending changes to the program and to laws, rules and

regulations affecting all schools based upon the experiences of

twenty-first century schools. The committee shall consist of thirteen

members, appointed by the governor, of whom three shall be appointed on

the recommendation of the commissioner, two on the recommendation of the

temporary president of the senate, two on the recommendation of the

speaker of the assembly, one on the recommendation of the minority

leader of the senate and one on the recommendation of the minority

leader of the assembly. The commissioner shall designate the chair. The

appointing authorities shall attempt to assure that the membership of

the committee includes representatives of parents, teachers, school

board members and school administrators as well as representatives of

their own institutions.