§ 3004-A — National board for professional teaching standards certification grant program

§ 3004-a. National board for professional teaching standards\ncertification grant program. 1. Notwithstanding any inconsistent\nprovision of law, the commissioner shall establish the Albert Shanker\nnational board for professional teaching standards certification grant\nprogram, to be used by the department to defray any costs incurred by an\neligible teacher, as that term is described in subdivision two of this\nsection and his or her sponsoring school district, where such eligible\nteacher seeks national board certification from the national board for\nprofessional teacher standards.\n 2. As used in this section, "eligible teacher" shall mean a New York\nstate tenured public school teacher who:\n (a) is currently teaching in New York state;\n (b) has graduated from an accredited college or university; and\n (c) holds a valid New York state teaching certificate.\n 3. Under the provisions of this section and subject to the filing\nrequirement described in subdivision four of this section, a grant in an\namount of up to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) shall be made\navailable from the Albert Shanker national board for professional\nteaching standards certification grant program to each eligible teacher\nto defray the expenses of certification by the national board for\nprofessional teaching standards. Such sum may include the direct\nreimbursement by the department to the eligible teacher's sponsoring\nschool district from the total grant award to cover the cost of hiring a\nsubstitute teacher for up to three days or the duration of such eligible\nteacher's approved leave, whichever is less.\n 4. The commissioner shall be responsible for promulgating any\nregulations necessary to effectuate the provisions of this section,\nincluding:\n (a) establishing within the department an application form and filing\ndeadline requirements to be utilized by eligible teachers applying for\nthe Albert Shanker national board for professional teaching standards\ngrant program;\n (b) establishing a mechanism for processing and approving applications\nwithin the department;\n (c) establishing a mechanism to allocate grant awards to approved\neligible teachers; and\n (d) establishing a mechanism to reimburse sponsoring school districts\nfor up to three days of approved leave as described in subdivision three\nof this section.\n 5. An eligible teacher for whom the state pays a participation fee\nshall be liable for repayment of the grant to the department if such\neligible teacher:\n (a) does not complete the process; or\n (b) completes the process, but does not teach in a New York state\npublic school for at least one full year after achieving national board\nfor professional teaching standards certification.\n 6. Repayment of the grant is not required:\n (a) if the certification process is not completed or if the eligible\nteacher fails to teach for one full year after completion due to his or\nher death or disability or some other extenuating circumstances as may\nbe recognized by the board of regents; or\n (b) if the eligible teacher completes the process but does not achieve\ncertification.\n