§ 3032 — Teacher summer business training and employment program; and employer specific skill training grant program

§ 3032. Teacher summer business training and employment program; and\nemployer specific skill training grant program. 1. Definitions. (a)\n"Regions" for the purposes of this section means regions as established\nby the commissioner pursuant to the provisions of the vocational\neducation act.\n (b) "Local education agencies" for the purposes of this section means\nschool districts, boards of cooperative educational services, community\ncolleges, agricultural and technical colleges, state university of New\nYork college of technology and centers for advanced technology\ndesignated pursuant to section three thousand one hundred two-a of the\npublic authorities law, and other postsecondary providers of career\neducation as set forth annually by the commissioner as eligible\nrecipients under the federal vocational education act of nineteen\nhundred eighty-four.\n (c) "Total employment cost" means salary or wages paid directly to\neach teacher participating and associated fringe benefits which accrue\nto each teacher in the teacher summer business training and employment\nprogram.\n 2. Allocations. The commissioner shall allocate the lesser of forty\nthousand dollars or one percent of the total appropriation for the\npurposes of this section to each region for administering and conducting\nemployer specific skill training and employment programs and the\nremainder of such appropriation shall be allocated to each region for\nthe administration and support of teacher summer business training and\nemployment programs based on the proportion of the base year full time\nteachers in the public schools of all school districts and boards of\ncooperative educational services within the region to the total of such\nteachers in the state, provided however, that each region shall receive\nat least five percent of the allocation for such purposes and provided\nfurther that the cost due to such five percent allowance shall be\nproportionally borne by the regions not so affected. Use of funds for\nadministration of the summer business training and employment programs\nshall not exceed six percent of the allocation to a region.\n 3. Teacher summer business training and employment program. (a) In any\ncase in which a business or industry within the state shall employ\nduring the months of July and August a teacher of mathematics,\nchemistry, biology, earth science, physics, computer science, career\neducation or an elementary specialist in the area of mathematics or\nscience or commencing July first, nineteen hundred eighty-five, a\nteacher of other subject areas as the commissioner may deem appropriate,\nthe state will assist employers with costs associated with approved work\nexperience for such teachers. Such business or industry shall request\nthat the chief administrative officer of the school district or board of\ncooperative educational services employing such teacher during the same\nschool year as such business or industry employment occurs, certify to\nthe commissioner that the summer work experience involved will directly\nbenefit the individual's effectiveness as a teacher of mathematics,\nchemistry, biology, earth science, physics, computer science, career\neducation, or other subject areas as the commissioner may deem\nappropriate. If such chief administrative officer so certifies, then\nsuch officer shall also file the request with the local education agency\ndesignated by the commissioner for pre-approval for funding under this\nprogram in the applicable region. The commissioner shall not approve any\nrequests for approval that would result in the maximum allocation for\nthe applicable region being exceeded. No approval shall be given except\nfor the lesser of thirty per centum of the total employment cost or one\nthousand dollars per employed teacher. The remainder of such costs shall\nbe borne by the business employer involved. Participation in this\nprogram shall be at the option of each school district or board of\ncooperative educational services.\n (b) Such requests for pre-approval and certifications shall be on a\nform prescribed by the commissioner. Such form shall include but not be\nlimited to certification of the employer regarding work to be performed\nby the teacher, wages, hours, and the certification of the chief\nadministrative officer of the school district or board of cooperative\neducational services as the case may be, as prescribed in this\nsubdivision.\n (c) The local education agency designated by the commissioner shall be\nauthorized to submit a claim to the commissioner for an amount of money\nequal to eighty percent of the anticipated expenditure, based upon the\nrequests for pre-approval and certification received. If the\ncommissioner approves, he shall pay that amount to such local education\nagency within thirty days of the receipt of such claim.\n (d) Upon completion of such employment, the participating business or\nindustry shall certify to the local education agency designated by the\ncommissioner the identity of the employee, the wages actually paid, the\nhours worked and the period in which such hours were worked and shall\nassess such local education agency for thirty per centum of such salary\nand wage not to exceed one thousand dollars per employed teacher. If the\ncommissioner approves, he shall reimburse such local education agency\nupon receipt of a claim pursuant to this section as provided by law the\namount of money equal to the difference between the monies paid to the\nlocal education agency pursuant to paragraph (c) of this subdivision and\nthe actual approved expenditure. If the monies paid to the local\neducation agency pursuant to paragraph (c) of this subdivision exceeds\nthe actual approved expenditure, the local education agency shall\nreimburse that difference to the commissioner.\n (e) The commissioner shall monitor implementation of programs,\nevaluate progress, and require reports. Any funds allocated to a region\nbut not committed for the purposes of this subdivision by September\nfifteenth of the current year shall be reallocated by the commissioner\nfor the purposes of subdivision four of this section.\n 4. Employer specific skill training grant programs. (a) Employer\nspecific skill training grant programs shall be designed to support,\nsupplement and contribute to the expansion and maintenance of the\neconomy of the state. Local education agencies shall apply to the\ncommissioner for grants for conducting employer specific skill training\nprograms. Application for funds by local education agencies for training\nprograms shall be in a manner consistent with the application process\nfor business and industry specific training programs under the\nvocational education act of 1963 and the job training partnership act;\nthe sum of such grants per region shall not exceed the total funds\nallocated or reallocated to the region for such purposes. Such programs\nshall provide retraining and upgrading to existing or potential\npersonnel in order to improve technology, quality control, production\nefficiency, or to adapt to other changes in the labor market, or to\nprovide unique training programs to meet the emerging needs and\noccupations of the state's business and industry or providing training\nto individuals to promote the successful management and/or operation of\na worker owned cooperative or an employee stock ownership plan or\nemployee-owned enterprises, as defined in subdivision five of section\neighteen hundred thirty-six-b of the public authorities law, by such\nemployees. No grant shall exceed fifty per centum of the total program\ncost. Eligible program cost may include employer wages paid to the\nemployee for time spent in the training program. Applications for a\ngrant by local education agencies shall be in a form prescribed by the\ncommissioner.\n (b) By October first, nineteen hundred eighty-six the department of\neducation, the department of commerce, and the urban development\ncorporation shall enter into cooperative agreements to promote more\neffective coordination of employer specific training programs with\nregional economic development strategies and other activities conducted\nby the department of commerce, the urban development corporation and\nother state, regional, and local agencies intended to promote economic\ndevelopment. In preparing these agreements the parties to the\ncooperative agreements shall solicit comments from the regional economic\ndevelopment councils, regional education center for economic development\ncoordinating committees, technology development councils, private\nindustry councils and other appropriate entities within the regions as\nidentified by the commissioner, the commissioner of commerce, or the\nchairman of the urban development corporation. Such cooperative\nagreements shall be reviewed and revised annually.\n (c) The commissioner shall monitor implementation of programs,\nevaluate progress, and require reports as needed.\n (d) If any funds allocated to a region are not committed for the\npurposes of this subdivision by November fifteenth, the commissioner may\nreallocate some or all of such funds to another region.\n 5. Additional employer specific skills training grants. The additional\nappropriation for the purposes of this subdivision for administering and\nconducting employer specific skills training programs shall be allocated\nas follows: (a) thirty percent shall be allocated equally among the\nregions; and (b) seventy percent shall be allocated among the regions\nbased upon the proportion of unemployed persons within the region to the\ntotal number of unemployed persons in the state for the most recent\ncalendar year as determined by the state department of labor using the\ncivilian non-instructional population sixteen years of age or older\nlabor series. Not less than twenty percent of the additional allocation\nto each region pursuant to this paragraph shall be available for\ntraining programs which will provide placements for persons who are\neconomically disadvantaged or dislocated workers as defined pursuant to\nthe federal job training partnership act. If any money allocated to a\nregion pursuant to this paragraph is not committed by March first of\neach year or is committed prior to March first and is subsequently found\nto be unnecessary for expenditure to meet existing contractual\nobligations, the commissioner shall reallocate such funds to approved\nprograms including but not limited to those programs which serve\neconomically disadvantaged or dislocated workers in regions eligible\npursuant to this paragraph.\n 6. Annual report. Annually, on or before January first of each year,\nthe commissioner shall report to the governor, the temporary president\nof the senate and speaker of the assembly and chairpersons of the\nappropriate committees on the impact of this program. Such report shall\ninclude but not be limited to:\n (a) The allocation of funding among the regions pursuant to this\nsection.\n (b) The amount of funding that was made available by each region for\nreallocation pursuant to this section. Such amount shall include\nseparately the amount made available due to the region's inability to\nencumber available funds and the amount made available due to the\noverestimation of projected program costs.\n (c) The amount of funding that was expended by each region for\nadministrative activities.\n (d) The allocation of funding among the regions providing for employer\nspecific skills training grant programs which are administered by the\ndepartment and funded through other sources including, but not limited\nto, the federal vocational education act and the federal job training\npartnership act and the extent to which such funds are combined with the\nfunds appropriated pursuant to this section to provide funding for\nindividual projects.\n (e) The participation, completion, and placement rate of individuals\nenrolled in employer specific skills training grant programs\nadministered by the department and funded pursuant to this section and\nthrough other available sources of funding, with particular emphasis on\nthe rates for individuals who are economically disadvantaged or\ndislocated workers.\n (f) A description and evaluation of programs undertaken pursuant to\nthe cooperative agreements required under this section.\n 7. The commissioner shall adopt rules and regulations to implement the\nprovisions of this section. Rules and regulations governing the employer\nspecific skills training program established pursuant to this section\nshall be promulgated by the commissioner, assisted by the commissioner\nof economic development and in consultation with the department of\neconomic development. Such rules and regulations shall be consistent\nwith the program plan required by subdivision nineteen of section one\nhundred of the economic development law.\n