§ 211-C — Distinguished educators

§ 211-c. Distinguished educators. The regents shall establish a\ndistinguished educator program that recognizes educational leaders who\nhave agreed to assist in improving the performance of low performing\nschool districts.\n 1. Building principals, superintendents of schools and teachers\nincluding retirees and current employees of school districts, under\nwhose leadership schools have demonstrated consistent growth in academic\nperformance and other individuals who have demonstrated educational\nexpertise, including superior performance in the classroom, shall be\neligible for designation by the regents as distinguished educators.\nProvided, however, individuals employed by for-profit entities shall not\nbe eligible for such recognition.\n 2. From the pool of distinguished educators designated by the regents\npursuant to subdivision one of this section, the commissioner shall\nappoint distinguished educators who have expressed their willingness to\nassist low performing districts in improving their academic performance.\nTo the extent practicable, the commissioner shall appoint distinguished\neducators to assist districts with comparable demographics to the\nschools or districts that are or were under such educator's leadership.\n 3. The commissioner may appoint a distinguished educator to a school\ndistrict;\n a. when such district or a school within such district has failed to\nachieve adequate yearly progress for four or more years;\n b. as a member of a joint school intervention team pursuant to\nparagraph b of subdivision two of section two hundred eleven-b of this\npart.\n 4. The school district to which a distinguished educator is appointed\nshall cooperate fully with an appointed distinguished educator.\n 5. An appointed distinguished educator shall assess the learning\nenvironment of schools in the district, review or provide assistance in\nthe development and implementation of any district improvement plan\nand/or any corrective action, restructuring, or comprehensive plan of\nany school within the district to which the distinguished educator is\nassigned. Such distinguished educator shall either endorse without\nchange or make recommendations for modifications to any such plan to the\nboard of education, trustees, or chancellor, in a school district in a\ncity of one million or more inhabitants, and the commissioner. Upon\nreceipt of any recommendations for modification, the board of education,\ntrustees, or chancellor shall either modify the plans accordingly or\nprovide a written explanation to the commissioner of its reasons for not\nadopting such recommendations. The commissioner shall direct the\ndistrict to modify the plans as recommended by the distinguished\neducator unless the commissioner finds that the written explanation\nprovided by the district has compelling merit.\n 6. Appointed distinguished educators shall be deemed ex-officio,\nnon-voting members of the board of education or trustees. In a school\ndistrict in a city of one million or more inhabitants, any such\ndistinguished educator shall be deemed an ex-officio, non-voting member\nof the community district education council or the city board, as\napplicable.\n 7. The reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by the appointed\ndistinguished educators while performing their official duties shall be\npaid by the school district.\n 8. If an appointed distinguished educator is employed by a school\ndistrict or charter school, it shall be the duty of the board of\neducation or trustees of such school district, the chancellor of a city\nschool district in a city of one million or more inhabitants, or the\nboard of trustees of such charter school to facilitate the efforts of\nany such appointed distinguished educators in their employ by granting\nreasonable leave requests and otherwise accommodating their efforts, to\nthe extent such efforts do not substantially interfere with the\neducator's performance of his or her regular duties.\n